I have a book that I have been flipping through.  It is called “Quotable Quotes.”  I am liking some of the things I am reading.
I must admit sometimes I will quote quotes with a slight variation.  My thinking is just because something is a quote or a well-used phrase, does not mean it is right to me. 
I have used quotes and they are rightly coming back to be used against me. I often say “there’s nothing like a good joke, and that’s nothing like a good joke.”  Something else I often say that I have actually heard no one else say is “if I knew what my blind spot was, it wouldn’t be a blind spot.”  The other thing I sometimes say that I have heard no where else is, “when iron sharpens iron there are sparks.”  That is from “as iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens the countenance of a friend.”
I am actually looking at quotes in the book on friendship.   Something said that rings true with me is a quote by Harry Emerson Fosdick, “no man is the whole of himself, his friends are the rest of him.”  I am not sure about the way it is put, but it is something I very much hold to.  That is, I need others.  Bit like the quote, “no man is an island.”  My part may be infinitesimal as another’s on me may be, yet I know in coping I have a multitude of influences I take on board.
That reminds me of something else I saw yesterday.  It was commenting how many think “what is the use as what I have is like only a drop in the ocean.”  It had me think, but the ocean is made up of many drops.  So I would say every voice matters.  Some are to be embraced, while others are to be rejected.  Whatever the case though, when handled right, whatever comes my way will make me a stronger person.
Another one I like is by Charles L. Allen. “You can make more friends in a month by being interested in them than in ten years by trying to get them interested in you.”  I have found that.  Most want a listening ear.  They want to be heard.  It seems being heard is something that does not occur as often as it could.  It seems the one who shouts the loudest today is often heard and acted upon, but what is proposed is often not in the best interests of many.
When it comes to friendships, I have a saying that is close to me. I have no idea who said it first but it sure was not me. “a friend is someone who, when you make a mistake, does not think you have done a permanent job.”
I need those sorts.

Darn.  Rats. Drat.  And other words I don’t really mean.  I was all set to mow the lawn when I got a phone call.  It had taken me a while to get to the point where I was going to mow the lawn, and then events conspired against me.
I had had a doctor’s appointment in the morning.  This doctor is hard to get, so I book a day each month for the next six months or so.
So at 8.10 I was waiting for him.  I saw him arrive and talk to the receptionist.  He was in no hurry at all.  Then he called my name and apologised.  He was expecting someone else and did not know I was there to see him.  Anyway it was a regular check up and when I said “what’s this” referring to something I had seen on my leg, he informed me it was a skin cancer.  I am booked in for a full skin check and a couple of biopsies.
I then went home and had an early sleep.  Merril had some banking to do and wanted to get a couple of things.
It was then I thought, “I will mow while she is gone.”  So I got the mower out and my headphones (I like to listen to music while I mow).  It was then the phone rang.  It was a Marcel from BWD who said he would be here in 15 minutes to get measurements of the door for the dishwasher.  I was expecting Jake from the company at 3 pm.
I thought “I can’t mow when I expect someone to come.”  So I waited.  He turned up.  Apparently he is the expert in dishwasher doors.  He had an off sider with him.  They did stuff.  One thing I really liked is the off sider was checking the doors opening and one I said, “good luck closing that one?”  He told me if there are problems like that then just turn this thing.  Hey presto it worked a treat.
Jake was phoned and he was in the area and came too.  So there were workers all through the kitchen.  The first two left and Jake remained doing stuff.
By this time it had started to rain and there went any chanced of mowing.  Hence the insincere drat.
Oh well it is still there to be mowed.  Probably a later in the week thing now as the weather is still very iffy and the lawn very wet.  Anyway, I have other things to get done.

“Your passion is what you are willing to suffer for.”  I recently heard someone say that, and I have thought about it a lot since.  I reckon there is a measure of truth in that one.
First responders at mass shootings reckon they see something a lot.  That is, a guy with himself over his wife endeavouring to protect her.  There is something innate in many guys that seeks to protect.  It is not something where it is said “oh I should” but often it is “I will.”  Their wife is their passion.
I was thinking of it in other terms too.  Often passion is seen in what I am willing to forgo.  For a runner or sports person, it can be “I will forgo the pizza for the moment in pursuit of my goal.”  So often on retiring or following a big event, competitors are asked what they will do now, and often it is to partake of something that has been out of bounds in pursuit of their goal.
It is not like it could not have been done before but a person is willing to suffer deprivation in pursuit of their goal.  The item while not taboo in itself, is incompatible with the passion.  It is one or the other – not both.
The reason I have found that so interesting is I know there are things that are not wrong in themselves, but they may be wrong for me at this time, if I want to achieve what I have in mind.
I guess there is a cost involved in anything I want to go for.  I am interested in stamp collecting.  At one stage I was doing it and determined I needed a great many leaves of different sizes.  I got them.  It cost.  The “suffering” pursuing my passion was financial.  I decided it was worth it.  I was willing to “suffer” a financial hit, as I knew achieving what I was after meant doing so.
I do not know about others, but I always thought of suffering only in terms of physical pain.  Yet to me suffering can take many forms.  It can be as complicated as gut wrenching out of the blue or seemingly as simple as making a best practice choice that takes me on a road less travelled.  It may also be the suffering of absence, or the suffering of denial.  The suffering of hurt or rejection.  The suffering of loneliness.  In many ways I have not experienced suffering -  but in many ways I have.
It is the suffering of “pursuing a dream” that right now I feel I need to bear.  The suffering of saying “no” to one thing and “yes” to another. “No” cuts many desirable possibilities but “yes” puts me on the road on which I need to go.  Passion determines if I am willing to do it.