I read something recently by a John Garder that I like. “some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are”
I guess I like that because at the moment there seems to be such an emphasis on the ills of society.  Every day it seems I see on tv despicable acts.  Acts that show man’s inhumanity to man and the lack of caring for others in the pursuit of personal gain.
I will not deny thing are not good, but I will not emphasise what is not good.  For me the key to good is thinking about good.  It is the putting aside all that my lower nature would want and do.  It is doing what may be harder, and contrary to my lesser inclinations, but will help both myself and others.
I think that who I am is not my profession, which may be a physician or mechanic or lawyer or a multitude of things but what my character is.  I have been to physicians that do not care for me, and mechanics that seemed to only want to rip me off.  Yet I have also been to physician and mechanics and the like that who take a genuine interest in me and will do all possible to bring light to perhaps a dark situation.
That is my aspiration.  I know I need help to be all I can be.  I also like “everyone of us has in him (them) undiscovered continents of character.”  When I go down untrodden paths of my character, sometimes I like what I see and at other times I do not.
The song may be glib but I do like “accentuate the positive.”  I do like to say that “what I think about grows bigger.”  I like to make no room for the negative as I am spending all my energy and thought in the realm of the positive.
For me doing what is right may take more effort and I know I need help with, but as I read somewhere, I never have to apologise for that.  It may be something new but for me it is worth exploring.  It may be a way less travelled, but it is getting busier.

​I am a bit bone weary today but fortunately it is not a day in the yard.
The last two days I have dedicated to the yard.  I really do enjoy it though this getting older is not all it is cracked up to be.  I definitely do not have the staying power I did.  But thankfully it is still enough to get some things done.  I do several hours in the morning, then have a rest and do several hours in the arvo.
We are getting rid of a huge tree.  It does not bring us pleasure to do so as we love the tree and so does the local wildlife.  We were watching the possum and its baby clinging to its back in the tree last night.
Yet during Alfred it was the one thing that caused real concern.  If a wind gust got it it could fall anyway onto any house.  There would be huge property damage for sure and there could also be a loss of life.  That is not fair to anyone.  Thankfully there are still trees in the yard (much smaller) so the wildlife will still have somewhere to go.
We have got a couple of quotes to remove the tree.  We have accepted one and are just waiting to be scheduled in.  We have asked they do it sometime in May.
There was stuff to do in preparation for their arrival.  Hence I have been working around the yard.  There were a pile of Broms at the tree base I have removed.  I am hoping to sell a number of them at the Market today and Saturday.  There was also a table and other things to remove.
I had the mulcher going and mulched up sticks and stuff around the tree.  The mulch has gone onto gardens.
Probably the hardest thing is removing our native non stinging bees to a new location.  They cannot just be plonked in a new location as they would not know where their home is.  We need to march their home slowly across the yard.
So I have been preparing the site and other things for the last couple of days.  Merril has been studying and cleaning mats.
The place is going to be different and there will be new challenges to face but right now we are up to it.

It is dictionary day again and as usual my finger fell on what I consider a doozy of a word.
“Smirk” – “Put on or wear an affected, conceited or silly smile.” (Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary).  Mirriam Webster says it is a smile that is smug, condescending or displaying a self-satisfied attitude. Wikipedia introduces the thought of insolence, scorn and offensive smugness.
I do like the introduction of offensive as I have never considered a smirk as a positive thing.  One of the best examples I have seen was how a German born psychiatrist described some of his most difficult patients.  He said they could be recognised by “a specific kind of smile, a kind of smirk, a smirk that says, 'Oh, you're an idiot! I know better. I can outwit you and control you'”
To me a smirk is often experienced when someone is unwilling to pass on information needed - in the mistaken belief that the smirker is the only one who can do the job.  It often involves withholding to gain or maintain an advantage.  I must admit I have not been good at that.  I tend to pass on what I know.  When it comes to sport that can be to my disadvantage.  I tended to give away playing secrets that could be, and were, used against me.
I do like that the word “scorn” is mentioned.  To me scorn or smirk indicates a lack of respect.  Respect may have been afforded up until weakness or fallibility is displayed.  I do have a real problem with that one as I know everyone has a point of vulnerability or weakness.  To me imagining that I may be “better” than another it is not something to gloat about.  It is a given that there are people “better” than me and “worse” than me.
Besides I am who I am only because I have made the most of opportunities that have come my way.  I cannot take credit for being born who I am.  I could have been born an ant.
Smirking is not something I am fond of doing or seeing.  As far as I am concerned, we are all in this together.  Rather than withhold I am way more inclined to share.  After all I may need what others have, and they may need what I have.  No one of us has got it all together but all of us together have what is needed – as long as all share.