Suppose you work extremely hard, but your efforts are wasted? Suppose somebody tells you, once you've managed to complete a task, that it wasn't really necessary? Then, you'd better have been enjoying yourself while you did it! Activities that make us feel good are always worthwhile, no matter what they lead to. As long as you apply your energy in the spirit of love, inspiration and the quest for personal satisfaction.

Certain people take great delight in finding fault and picking holes in everything. As soon as we open our mouths they pounce with their claws out and criticise whatever is said. Since the speed of their attack usually catches us off guard, it's easy to think they're right - and our confidence is undermined. Which is exactly what they want. Destabilised, we stumble, lose our momentum, and assume we've got things wrong. Do we? 

Words are powerful. But there are times when an image, a gesture, or a piece of music can be more evocative. Think of great works of art. They inspire a plethora of emotions. From joy to anguish. Deep calm to raging rebelliousness. No wonder oppressive regimes, throughout history, destroy artworks that challenge their ideologies. Yet sometimes, we need to express ourselves in a straightforward way.

Borders and boundaries. Laws and limitations. There are times when the only constants in our world are the things we can't do. And these increase when we find ourselves in unfamiliar situations. We're taught, from an early age, to do our best to avoid reprimands and rebukes. So, we play it safe. We toe the line. We err on the side of caution. We even imagine that something perfectly permissible involves breaking rules. But some boundaries need to be pushed .

Comic book heroes are the gods and goddesses of our times: mythical beings with powers we wish we had. Although there seems to be a constant stream of characters with new abilities, I haven't seen a Totally Perfect Person yet. Maybe some qualities are actually beyond believable! Or maybe a graphic designer has created one, but the end result is too boring to develop into a persona who makes it onto our screens. After all, people who never make mistakes are a bit... well... boring.

We like to think we know our rights from our wrongs. After all, if we expect kids to have a gr of these principles, surely we can be confident that we know what's right and what's not. But it's rarely that simple; there's always a risk that we might be wrong to think we're right about something. But we should be more worried about thinking that we're wrong, when we're not.

One of the first things parents teach their toddlers is that 'I want, doesn't get'. We can't have everything in this world - and we certainly shouldn't expect things to fall into our laps just because we ask for them. But perhaps the point is more about the way that we ask. After all, if you don't ask for things, why would anyone give you anything? Of course, you have to prove yourself worthy. But it's important to be clear, so that other people are able to engage fully and clearly with our goals. On that note ,although we learn, when we're young, not to voice all our thoughts, I am  someone who's prepared to take risks when it comes to sharing ideas; I  don't suppress my feelings or opinions for the sake of polite pretence. I like being with people i  can be honest and open with.

There are times when we can be our own worst enemy. Which, when you think about it, is a strange thing. There's an implication that we are somehow able to separate from our true selves and be unnecessarily and unfairly self-critical. Life would be so much easier if we always had our own best interests at heart. 

Have you noticed that when people want to say something offensive, they often start by saying 'no offence, but...'? It's as if they think they make their offensive words more acceptable by saying that they don't want to offend, and that they're therefore immune from the consequences. Sometimes, too, people use humour to disguise meanness. It seems there's a hidden agenda, and it surly adds to being uncertain about the true meaning . An honest conversation always should be held amongst us. Just an observation and found it comical. 

Just being human is to be a bewildering mass of inconsistencies. It's to seek peace but to savour arguments. To stay calm and controlled even when feeling as if we want to explode. To be open-minded yet biased, compassionate yet selfish, confident yet insecure. It's finding a smile even when we're sad, and being courageous when we're feeling afraid. I find we all are  fully entitled to be as contradictory as we want to be. 

Time took me back a bit and it made me think of the  game we used to play out on the streets.  I remember standing watching the kids turning the rope, while the others jumped over it. How, I wondered, did they know when to jump? Was there a way of calculating the right moment to run in and raise your feet off the ground? But standing watching didn't help. Eventually, i just had to go for it... and that's when i realised that skipping isn't something you can work out in your head, you have to feel the rhythm by actually doing it.. this goes much for anything in this life.

Just an observation i made that ; No one's able to offer us the love we want, in exactly the way we want it. Nor can we offer anyone all they need exactly when they need it. That's why we can give up on challenging relationships and content ourselves with the idea of remaining solitary. But really this is such a negative way of looking at relationships! True success is defined as the willingness to keep going, despite difficulties and failures. 

No matter how well educated we are, what really matters is what we used to call good old 'common sense'. The problem, is that common sense is less common that it used to be. You only have to surf this site  for a taste of all the ridiculous ideas that exist.

We can place our most valuable items under lock and key. We can install alarms to alert us to burglars. But how can we stop our time from being stolen? It's hard to protect ourselves from people who deprive us of that most precious commodity.

's not easy to move a mountain. Success depends on whether the mountain's prepared to move and how much explosive you can access. Some people make a living out of this kind of work, and know exactly how much dynamite's needed to create the right kind of result. 

Most of us don't know what we really want. We have vague unrealistic general hopes (such as wanting a lottery win), but when asked to name our specific realistic goals we often struggle. It's probably because so much of our life is bound up in everyday survival - the endless toll of 24-hour emails and social media, plus all the issues and stresses we're dealing with take their toll on our ability to dream and make those dreams come true. 

People who have strong opinions tend to know what they want and how to get it. They work out the right direction, and then do whatever they need to do to ensure they don't meander from the path. Well... that's the theory anyway. But in reality, everyone has to deal with forks in the road that make decisions difficult. 

Have you ever experienced one of those moments when you can't believe what you're being told? When people say things we aren't expecting to hear, we have a moment when we literally hardly believe our ears. Our immediate reaction is in response to the shock. Once that's settled, we're able to reconsider the initial statement, and our feelings alter. This can happen a few times, over a period of time, until we reach a state of acceptance

Perhaps I should clarify that the quote is simply a quote and has nothing to do with me personally 

There are two kinds of pain in this world. The pain that hurts, the pain that changes us

All in the Name

There are still many people on this planet who don’t know the acronym BDSM and what it stands for. Here’s one example of this:

“A company is hiring someone for a Business Development, Sales and Marketing positionufpu

== Results from bdsmtest.org == 

100% Submissive 

96% Slave 

87% Degradee 

82% Experimentalist 

77% Brat 

71% Masochist 

64% Rope bunny 

62% Primal (Prey) 

49% Pet 

42% Non-monogamist 

41% Voyeur 

39% Exhibitionist 

34% Vanilla 

31% Dominant 

26% Brat tamer 

8% Sadist 

7% Owner 

6% Master/Mistress 

5% Primal (Hunter) 

4% Rigger 

2% Degrader 

0% Switch 

0% Boy/Girl 

0% Daddy/Mommy 

0% Ageplayer 

Entranceways are funny things. It's easy to look at a door, and assume you know what lies behind it. But, just as it's never a good idea to judge a book by its cover, it's unwise to judge a place by its portal. Likewise, when we're going through a time of transition, we need to remember not to confuse the journey with the eventual destination.  I am beginning a new phase of my life. Although ,it might feel a bit uncomfortable at the moment, i know I'm going in the right direction and will very much like where i end up. Owned an collared. 

No matter our lifestyle, or where we live, there are always issues and problems to deal with. And sources of stress. That's just how it is. Yet it's not the only way of looking at things. Life is also about love, happiness, delight, satisfaction, magic, discovery and much more. The trouble is that it's all too easy to forget these things when we're caught up in the challenges. Yet it doesn't take much to remind us of the positives. And when we remember to feel thankful, we feel good...just some pre Thanksgiving thoughts.