The answers are important in part for the new questions they raise.

Hence, the need for solving problems we find difficult but enjoy and love too much not to work on. Find a way, even if is the long way around.

- Vigs

Gentleness sent out, returns.

- Vigs

Hold close with open arms.

- Vigs

Spending time thinking through ones doubts usually leads to clarity.

... and it usually raises more doubts too. As with many other things, the way to the other side may have its special moments, its challenges and rewards.

- Vigs

Sharpen the mind, not the tongue.

Even though a keen mind is evidenced in the words one uses, know where its cutting edge lies.

- Vigs

Share freely with others the things one values.

Often the things that matter cannot be hoarded, nor given away - they may be shared though.

- Vigs

It is easy for sweeping statments to cause angry reactions ...

... retaliating in kind - letting the anger cause us to make counter-generalizations about the topic at hand, or about the person, just perpetuates the cycle. Let something positive emerge, even if is is but a gentle inner smile, an armor that protects letting us do the things that are needed. Sometimes, actually quite a few sometimes, the evidence has to prove the truth, not just the words.

- Vigs

Support a not-for-profit that supports a cause we aspire to achieve ourselves.

Helping someone, those with whom we share the world, reach a modest goal that is of interest to us can be quite fulfilling.

- Vigs

The spider monkey of Madagascar ...

... the green turtle of the Americas, the orangutan of Asia, and so many others creatures in the world around, depend on the responsibility we bear to their habitat.

- Vigs

When always meets never ...

Time appears to stand still on one side and to move right along on the other.

- Vigs

Welcome the temptation, it is a way to find the divine.

Unless ones resolve is tested, the real strength of the solution that's supposed to work, really remains unknown. Test how much of what ones feels is need, and how much is the desire for something new. A need may be masked, but has to be met, one way or the other. For the rest the solution likely lies within, a source inextinguishable, meeting one type of fire from without with one from within.

- Vigs

Acknowledging a viewpoint isn't always the same as agreeing with it.

There are often strong emotions held on all sides of an issue, whether we choose to say them aloud or not. Others may not be as reluctant to do so, and in fact the loudest, the sharpest, the angriest words do usually dominate the conversation. Recognizing that there is merit in all viewpoints, even if only in very specific situations, helps one reexamine ones deeply held convictions. Attempts to expand it in all situations, seeking a single solution to a complex problem is likely to fall short. Changing the focus of the speaker's and also one's one words, casting it in a different context or broadening it in a way which makes it comically absurd, renders any sting the words may carry harmless.

- Vigs

Murmer the prayer that speaks to oneself.

It could be something learned or something that bubbles up unbidden.

- Vigs

When the correct answer does not seem to solve the problem.

Try later, or under different conditions, or from another angle, trying to get part of it to work at least some of the time. Learn more about the problem and about oneself in doing so.

- Vigs

Stop, stay awhile, to enjoy the special moments that keep passing by ...

... the concert in the park, the changing colors, viewing a happy smile on someone, the joy of working on or accomplishing something difficult. Stretch the moment. Often it is easier to hurry on to the next. Savor it. Feel the moment flood ones being.

- Vigs

Need or novelty

What is needed first, then the novelty. Unless it's novelty that is needed. Reversing the order may feel good, usually for a time.

- Vigs

What makes a day successful?

Can it be unsuccessful in the eyes of others and still bring one great joy. And can it be successful to others, but feel hollow. Certainly. Define it as making progress towards ones higher priorities, the big ones. Even if incrementally. It might take time. A lot of time. Achieving big things often does.

- Vigs

Be a part of something special.

... whether it be something large that needs many hands and minds; or something that needs working away in solitude. That some day more things that matter will be possible by our efforts.

- Vigs

Proverbs can and can't capture the reality of the moment.

Contradictions abound. Black and white; love and indifference; all at once, around and within us. While precision or repeatability may be a desirable requirement for equipment, we aren't quite made the same way now, are we? Predictable yes, but probably no more than that. What or how we think or feel or do or react may change over time. The words from a song or a proverb that rang true once may be replaced by just their opposite. Making us more human, a puzzle and a contradiction. Not so much to be solved, as to be experienced. The opposites indicate the range of our experiences, its depths and heights.

- Vigs

Take the conversation to a different place.

A warmer, funnier one.

- Vigs

Truth is more than mere fact.

Facts firmly establish the truth regarding events which have occurred. However they do not always reveal the truth behind the facts, such as the details regarding the human elements which are often in play, the reasons, the emotions, the role of chance or of the past. Without denying the facts, one must judiciously choose to reveal as much truth as possible about the facts, without inadvertently painting oneself into a corner.

- Vigs

Listen for the sound of the ocean in the singer's voice.

Or whatever it is that takes one to a place of happiness, harmony and contentment within.

- Vigs

Create opportunities for others to shine.

Clear paths, remove obstructions, clarify ideas, begin and continue building bridges over terrain impassable for me, that others may someday complete the journey.

- Vigs

Keep some part of ones life less than perfectly organized.

Some place and some time where it's okay to paint outside the lines.

- Vigs

There are important things that need to be done.

... and when done, it won't matter which person or group did it, just that it was done. We call on the ideas of great minds of ages past to guide us, the heartwarming children's stories, and the gadgets that make everyday that much easier; often without knowing the author. And even if we did, the idea might just be more important than the individual. It lives.

- Vigs

When things that matter begin to fall apart and it seems easy to give in to worrying ...

... instead choose to work on other things. Items that once accomplished would have moved something else forward at least by a bit. Something which is important to us too. In the meantime, the time spent working on something else would have also given time for turning things over subconsciously in ones mind. Alternate paths often emerge.

- Vigs

Use the words that move us.

Words which help build and give expression to the depth of our experiences. Rephrase the retort and the manner that will wound. Find words that heal and move us towards a happier place.

- Vigs

A working solution is often better than a stalled situation.

Taking on difficult problems. Uncertainty abounds. With strong emotions involved on all sides. Action is needed but none which offer a free and clear path. Find some way, question and simplify assumptions, develop a pragmatic solution even if it is not the most efficient one. It will do for the moment. To know if the course of important actions is consistent with ones reasoning and beliefs, test it repeatedly, in a variety of situations, not just the current one, and see how the results turn out. Expect results which in turn tests what we think, feel and believe.

- Vigs

Staying busy in itself may not be a good measure of a day well spent.

On the other hand staying busy doing for the most part what takes us in the direction of our plans and dreams, will help us stay in control, despite inevitable detours. Experience the worry dissolve away which is about half of the way there, even when the journey may just be beginning. Choosing activities which form part of a larger plan, so even when we cannot quite see what's on the horizon, we can direct our paths to places on distant shores only our imagination shows us.

- Vigs

Putting off what's tedious and difficult to do is unlikely to make it go away

Doing something, anything reasonable, about it would be a good start though. Reading what others have done in similar situations, thinking and planning about how to solve the problem, involving others is likely to be helpful. If nothing else, it would have been just another way which does not work as intended. In some distant future, part of what didn't work now could mesh with something else that did, and provide the solution that we have been seeking.

- Vigs

Chip away at the right place.

Something really big and important can seldom be completed in one pass. Being big and all, the task often contains interlinked parts, some of which are more important than others. Even amongst the important parts, some more accessible than others. Begin and continue working at the places which will have a positive and increasing impact on the overall project - the parts that are crucial to the whole. It can be dressed up later once the core is in place.

- Vigs

The losing battle that must be fought within ...

... so that some day reaching an abiding peace, an inspiring place, the land of promise within and without will be possible.

- Vigs

Time puts many things to the test - especially ideals.

It takes the ideas and efforts of many to test the importance of what we each value. Seek the opinions of both those who agree and those who disagree. The fans and the naysayers. Seek the underlying principles that guides each, to understand and learn about oneself. While our philosophical differences may be strong, proceed in good faith, assuming the intentions of those who differ from ours, are as good as we hope ours are. Time will tell. Again maybe.

- Vigs

Where would one go if every place feels about the same.

What can never be taken away.
Whom can one turn to always.
When is it time to draw the line.
How playfulness can replace cynicism.

- Vigs

While waiting for inspiration to work out the big questions ...

... do the things that one would feel happy to have done over the year, especially at the start of the next new year. The present will soon be the past. To feel happy about the past work on making the present better.

- Vigs

Preparing to face the future is important, as is preparing to face the past.

- Vigs

To fail inspite of having tried really hard is sometimes essential.

Okay, so it's mostly essential. For someday when success sweetens the toil, it'll be because of the hardship that was overcome along the way. When knowing that though giving up is easy, it is also never really an option; when we, without regret undertake long hours of work to do what must be done, and would do it again. And again. Even though the oasis turns out to be another mirage, to taste the waters of success someday, one must undertake those long roads, impassable gorges, hobbling, stumbling, and yes keep hope burning within. While toil is necessary is not sufficient to guarantee success in the eyes of the world. But definitely in ones' own.

- Vigs

A difference in opinion is no more important than what one'd like for dinner ...

It's personal. Hear others'. Indicate mine. We believe what we believe. No point shooting down what somebody else, anybody, believes in. Or putting somebody in a position of having to defend what they believe in. That would be difficult to do without depending on other beliefs one has. And it is unlikely that force can change ones beliefs. Perhaps a good example of what one believes would be a better testament to it. One worth emulating ourself.

- Vigs

Trying to find myself by losing my way.

Maybe once too many times though.

- Vigs

Every star in the sky makes it that much brighter.

The twinkling eyes. Peals of laughter. Our abilities. All have the potential to make the world around a little bit brighter, for those around.

- Vigs

What gives me the goosebumps - and what does it tell me about myself?

Seek the words that move us. Words about the human condition. Which speak personally to me, across time and distance. Words about myself. And about you. Words which catch in our throats, tears which sting the eyes in shared sorrow. And hope. For a better tomorrow.

- Vigs

Fantasy. To dream without sleeping, keeping nothing off limits as in ones dreams.

Rule the space and time spent in ones fantasies. No need for boundaries or rules in the dreams where fantasy takes one, inasmuch as it is not duplicitous when one awakens. And no embarrassment too. Nothing to hide from oneself. To each the gift is theirs by merely wishing it be so. Taking us wherever we want it to. An inlet and an outlet for surging feelings. Waken afterwards refreshed. Without regret as one wouldn't for any dream one had. Awaken to the reality around.

- Vigs

To enjoy the game when no side is favored over the other

... to be dazzled by an exquisitely taken shot, to applaud the excellence of the players on both sides as they reach inside themselves to shine on the floor, to acknowledge greatness on the court, without regard to the jersey they wear - is also to catch a glimpse of the game's true beauty. Enjoy the game, cheer good plays on both sides. Cheer others' successes and efforts.

- Vigs

If its important to do, don't worry about the time it takes to do it.

While there is no good time to do certain things, and no bad time to do some others, the vast majority fall somewhere in the middle. Prioritize. And of course schedule the important, personal and professional, the things expected of us, and things which need to be done. But also be open to moving things around during the day, for attending to what matters a lot to oneself too.

- Vigs

Rest the mind and the body.

Rest the darting eyes and the racing thoughts. Feel rested. Feel freer. To start a each day anew anytime.

- Vigs

Search the past and the present for ...

...the wonderful words, the deep ideas, and the simple joys, each phase of our lives once experienced or still holds. Use it as one of the guides for the unfolding the future. Our common future.

- Vigs

By sharing our abilities and gifts make it possible for others to find theirs.

- Vigs

Opposing ideas and beliefs are unlikely to be resolved by taking sides.

Consensus does not always provide the correct answer. But it does provide a way the group can proceed for the time being. It shows the direction of the prevailing wind - which can change, and often does over time.

- Vigs

Love is the common denominator.

- Vigs

Having a playful response without playing anyone.

- Vigs

May every morning bring with it the promise of springtime

... of new beginnings, renewal, and discovery.

- Vigs

To lead begin by following ones dreams.

- Vigs

By writing less one can often express more.

It allows for the reader to fill in the words their thoughts, experiences, ideas, feelings. They do not have to be follow the author's interpretation - including this one. Many of the proverbs, idioms and quotes that are now part of our daily speak are largely context free. Leave space for filling in the dots ...

- Vigs

View emptiness not as a loss but as a goal.

- Vigs

Trust but do not tempt.

- Vigs

Find ways to end each day in victory especially over oneself.

- Vigs

Feelings don't really need to be controlled; but words, expressions, ..., actions do

- Vigs

When emotion flavors the logic of our lives, and doesn't rule over it

- Vigs

Sometimes the only thing rougher than not having a wish come true, is having the wish come true.

- Vigs

Find the encouraging word

- Vigs