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Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM
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"No one wants advice - only corroboration."
- John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

"I always pass on good advice. It's the only thing to do with it. It is never any use to oneself."
- Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, 1895

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."
- Erica Jong, How to Save Your Own Life, 1977

Things and Ideas

I know, it's hard for people (especially me!) to accept the advice
of others. Nevertheless, I'll use this page as a starting point to
post thoughts about things and ideas that can be useful in this short life:

Life is too short. Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can't change. Love deeply and forgive quickly. Take chances and give everything, and have no regrets. Life is too short to be unhappy. You have to take the good with the bad, smile when you're sad. Love what you've got, and always remember what you had. Always forgive but never forget. Learn from your mistakes, but never regret. People change and things go wrong, but always remember: Life goes on.

Drink plenty of water.
Eat a large breakfast, a light lunch, and even lighter dinner.
Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less meat and food that is processed.
Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
Make time to be alone in silence.
Play more
Read more books than you did last year.
Sleep at least 7 hours.
Take a 10-30 minute walk daily.
Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
Don't over do. Keep your limits.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Also dream while you are awake.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.. Don't hate others.
Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear & fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
Smile and laugh more.
You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...
Call your family often.
Each day give something good to others.
Forgive everyone for everything.
Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Do the right thing - do no harm!
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change...
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up...
The best is yet to come.

"Before there was money, before there was fame, before there were doctors, lawyers, professions of any kind . . .
before man began to abstract the life experience . . .
there was happiness and contentment.."

- Dirk Benedict in his book, Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy, p. 156

"Sometimes people say, you know, 'What's the secret of a long marriage?' It's like, 'You don't get divorced.'"

- Oliva Harrison in Martin Scorsese's documentry movie, George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Advice from an old farmer:

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered... not yelled.
Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
Don't judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life... Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
Most times, it just gets down to common sense.

Politicians

I always like providing advice to politicians since they have
such a huge impact our lives. Unfortunately none of 'em ever
listen to me but I keep trying:

Most everybody I know, including me, had high hopes for the Obama administration. Despite the huge problems he inherited, he seemed to be on the right track as I offered this advice the first three weeks he was in office (February 10, 2009):

Not a word, yet, about our huge population problem - how about it?

Up until inauguration day Israel continued to brutalize the Palestinians - how about a Executive Order forcing Israel to give up ALL the settlements, free-up West Bank water and airspace, allow commerce (and humanitarian aid!) to flow in and out of Gaza, and, most importantly, force Israel back to its pre-1967 borders (at a minimum) and allow Palestinians the right of return? Seems like it would be real easy to "persuade" Israel to do the right thing for a change - they receive more money from America than any other country in the world!

How about an "Executive Request/Suggestion" (since you don't have control over every public entity) that ALL government employees take an immediate pay freeze during this deepest of recessions? Mr. President, you're off to a good start by having frozen the pay of many in your own administration, and we're certainly impressed (and thankful!) that you've ordered CEO pay capped for any corporation accepting taxpayer funding. But, there are literally millions of GSA workers, police, public school teachers (and especially administrators), secret agents, college professors, forest workers, county commissioners, city councilmen, mayors, dog catchers, auditors, inspectors, border patrol, military civilian employees, air traffic controllers, and meat inspectors who are paid with tax dollars and remain immune to any economic downturn. Please?

Here's the advice I offered the Bush administration:

The climate is changing and biodiversity is being destroyed - do something! Maybe having the U.S. participate in a global warming treaty, taxing the heck out of SUVs, or just working on our own huge population problem would be a start. The main thing is to put down the golf clubs and take some action!
Stop spying on Americans - especially without a court order!

Stop misleading the American people! We're mature enough to know whether another country needs to be invaded or not (invading Iraq was wrong and you know it!), smart enough to see Social Security remain intact, and secure enough not give up our personal freedoms. A little more truth telling - you get the idea!
Use some of America's considerable muscle to pressure China, Israel, and Africa to free Tibet, get out of Palestine, and stop the genocide, respectively - a little more work on AIDS and famine wouldn't hurt either...
Stop rewarding the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Jack Abramoff, Karl Rove, John Bolton, William Bennett, John Negroponte, Tom DeLay and the other unsavory characters hanging around the White House - America deserves better!
Finally, stop catering to the wealthy - although they comprise less than 1% of our population they control more wealth than the bottom 90% of us - start representing us regular folks!

Seven Blunders of the World

This is a list that Mahatma Gandhi gave to his grandson Arun Gandhi, written on
a piece of paper, on their final day together shortly before his assassination.

Wealth without work

Pleasure without conscience

Knowledge without character

Commerce without morality

Science without humanity

Worship without sacrifice

Politics without principle

The list grew from Gandhi's search for for the roots of violence and ways to prevent oneself or one's society from
reaching a point of violence.Gahndhi's grandson, Arun, added an eight blunder; rights withou responsibilities

"In Buddhism in general, a lot of attention is paid to our attitudes towards our rivals or enemies. This is because hatred can be the greatest stumbling block to the development of compassion and happiness. If you can learn to develop patience and tolerance towards your enemies, then everything else becomes much easier - your compassion towards all others begins to flow naturally."

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his book,
The Art of Happiness, p. 178

Mayberry Wisdom

The Andy Griffith Show was an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from 1960, to 1968.

When a hobo told Andy he should just let Opie "decide for himself" how he wanted to live...
Andy Taylor (actor Andy Griffith) had these words of Mayberry wisdom;

"No, I'm afraid it don't work that way. You can't let a young'n decide for himself. He'll grab at the first flashy thing
with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there's a hook in it, it's too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with
so much glitter that it's hard to convince them that other things might be better in the long run. All a parent can do is
say 'Wait' and 'Trust me' and try to keep temptation away."

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