Friday’s I like to await the email from James Clear.  He is in the US. I think he sends it out pretty well last thing before nightfall there.  I get it first thing in the morning.
Today as usual he mentions a few things, but something I feel I relate to and what keeps people from filling their potential, he listed. 1. Trying to please everyone; 2. Imitating the desires of others; 3. Chasing status without questioning why; 4. Playing superhero and trying to do it all alone; 5. Dividing attention between too many projects.
The first one which is “trying to please everyone” is one I think I need to guard against.  One of my volunteer roles is looking after an area which has multiple purposes but limited storage. Groups can be singularly focused whereas I need to be big picture focused.  So where there are competing interests involved, I will do all I can to accommodate each group but know I sometimes need to make decisions that may not be popular, but which take into account the needs of a group.  I try to avoid doing anything at the expense of another.
I don’t feel I have a problem trying to imitate the desires of others.  I am answerable to one person and their desires are paramount, so I work withing those bounds.  Fortunately they do not micro-manage so I am free to do things.  It is only when they conflict with the person I answer to, that I need to pull my head in.
The third point of “chasing status without questioning why” I basically do not have a problem with.  For a start no one else I know of would what my job.  Besides I honestly enjoy organizing to make a place look good and be functional for all involved.  My philosophy is to make a place look ready for guests like I do when I know visitors are coming to our home.  It really seems to me that the thought of doing to others as I would like done to me crosses a lot of t’s and dots i’s.
I have gotten over trying to play superhero and doing it alone.  To me others can add and make things better.  I have experienced that, and it is a really good feeling.
The last point about dividing attention between too many projects is a work in progress.  I am learning to avoid taking on too much and diluting my effectiveness.  I am having to shed some tasks.
I am happy and this is all a learning process.  Really it is never too late to learn (I am living proof).

I was looking at general quotes and a couple really stood out to me.  One was to do with holding on and letting go.  Others were more general but for me, impactful.  I ignored the one by miss Piggy that said, “never eat more than you can lift.”  Ok good advice, but I would have thought it could go without saying.   
The first that hit me I paraphrase from a Helvelock Ellis. “The art of living lies in holding on and letting go.”  One that was on the same lines was by Lin Yutang that said, “besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.”
I must admit that is a big one for me.  Holding on and letting go is to me a picture of what I want.  Some things for sure I need to hold on to, and investigate, and make the core of my being.  Other things are distractions at best. 
Distractions to me do not mean getting rest from the battle, but fighting the wrong battle.  I agree with something a Johann Wolfgang von Gothe said.  “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, of possible, speak a few reasonable words.”  I may not seek out such things, but they are definitely refreshing and welcome.  Not a distraction but part of the stuff of life.
To me there are a couple of kinds of peace that have everything to do with distractions.  There is the peace of victory, which to me is a goodie when fighting the right cause, and there is the peace of defeat or surrender.  That to me seems to be what we are heading to at the moment.  Hoping that all will be well without making any effort to ensure things end well.
Another quote I read seems to have everything to do with this day and age. “there is more to life than increasing it’s speed.” (Mohandus K. Gandhi).  To me, never has the growth of knowledge, and the quickness of its sharing, been greater.  Yet observation tells me we are not more content as a result.
Still the point for me is how I live my life.  I will assist others where I can with a word in season, or a kindly act, but I am not answerable for another’s actions.  I am responsible for my own.

Ok I’ll admit it.  I’m a bit of a beanie lad.
A beanie was really nothing I thought of wearing in Townville though Merril said she went up to the Gulf of Carpentaria and when the temperature dropped to like 24 out came the beanies.
I only really discovered beanies when I was going to the US and it was likely to be cold.  (I never saw snow falling but it was on the ground.)  What I thought was a funny event that is totally unrelated is when I was having my first snow fight with someone.  They ducked behind one of the big wigs on the tour - just as I let loose with a snowball.  Got him fair and square. 
Where was I.  Yes I did not see snow falling but sleet was falling in Canada.  I was glad for the beanie.  It was a really good one and made me look cool.  It made me feel warm but look cool.
I think it sort of suited me because of my Prussian heritage.  I reckon my ancestors would have worn one all the time in their homeland.
Since that one I have had a few beanies.  I thought none were as good as the first I had.  One had a pom pom.  It made me look a bit silly.  Well my pride thought so, though it was warm.
I have sort of gotten over the attempting to look cool.  My thinking is I am 67 and married.  Who am I trying to impress?  Once upon a time I was trying to impress the girls and now it is only one girl I want to impress.
I had recently graduated to a different type of beanie.  One that a person did not need to curl up but that lay flat on the head.  It was good but not as good as the one I now have.  Merril’s sister brought it back as a gift from Scotland.  It is from the Isle of Iona.  Isle even sounds Scottish doesn’t it.  Aye.
So I have a new favourite.  The weather is a bit iffy though.  I do not know if I am hot or cold.  No matter.  It’s on when I need it.