Winning Words 10/23/12
“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is the one comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won’t.”  (Henry Ward Beecher)  I read recently that pigheadedness can be a learned behavior.  Sometimes the terrible twos can last a lifetime.  Many of this world’s problems can be solved, or (at least) eased by trying to understand another’s point of view…a child’s, a teen’s, an adult’s.  Try it today!    ;-)  Jack

 FROM PM VISITING IN MICHIGAN:  Thanks, Jack! I heard early this morning that the best is yet to come...its up ahead looking through the windshield of the car, not in the rearview mirror.////FROM JACK:  Speaking of windshields, sometimes you're the bug, and sometimes you're the windshield.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  "Won't" is not necessarily a bad word....the commandments include some strong negatives...."will" is not necessarily always a good...."I will shoot him!"FROM JACK:  I won't argue with someone who has a strong will.  And I do see your point.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Perseverance I think is defined by us, obstinacy (in us) is defined by those of opposing views. What is called obstinacy in one view is often seen as perseverance by those agreeing with Mr. Obstinacy. Tigers in the World Series? Wow. I don’t watch baseball, but I hope they score a lot of touchdowns….   ////FROM JACK:  In the minds of a lot of people, perseverance is a quality that it positive, while obstinacy is seen as negative.  In the long run, they are just words.  Re the Tigers...You have to turn to the 2nd page of the Detroit Free Press to find out what else is going on in the world.

 FROM (SAINT) JUDY:  This wouldn't have been about the debate last night would it?  :')  I agree but I would add it's not always about the won't and the wills...it's about the reason for both.  Pigheadedness: haven't heard that word in a long time.  It's very descriptive and can apply to all of us at sometime. ////FROM JACK:  I didn't watch the debate.  I was too busy switching channels.  Pigheadedness, in my opinion, refers to those who are unwilling to compromise.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  I will perservere in seeing the world in that all cultures are important in God's view; I won't sit around and share in the talk about just one culture--last night Finnish--but I will try to understand that, for Finnish people, that is the culture that is closest to them and which they are so proud of and maybe a little bit secretly or not, they think is the most fun culture. I won't be pigheaded and try to disabuse them of their enjoyment but funnily with all the enjoyment, haven't been able to convert and change my history of descent. Sometimes stuff like this becomes decisive, not to speak of things that we really can choose like our politics and sports teams, which in spite of the arguing are really great things about out country--in my opinion.////FROM JACK:  Sometimes when we see "the good old days" slipping away, we try to hold on and are reluctant to let go.  But, as Isaac Watts wrote in the old hymn verse...
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

 FROM CJL IN OHIO:  Try it, also, in the Presidential race////FROM JACK:  That's the problem...too many "I won'ts" and not enough of "I wills."////CJL:  Anything about "statesmanship"?   Haven't seen much of that.   "My party, right or wrong"    Sad.////JACK:  Isn't there a song---"Where have all the statesmen gone?"


 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  Big smile.  The trait sure runs in my family.  The other day my son argued that one person can’t be stubborn alone.  They need to have someone to be stubborn against and by definition that person is also stubborn.////FROM JACK:  Part of being a problem solver is having an understanding of what the problem is.  To be able to "see" both sides is a good trait.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Pigheadedness is a label that pigheaded people pin on people who don't agree with them.////FROM JACK:  If you don't like that word, try: bullheaded, mulish, stiff-necked, intractable.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  HWB had a perfect way to put that! Clever man!  "A mind at PEACE, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe." Wayne Dyer, Book:"Real Magic:Creating Miracles in Everyday Life"   I like that thought...////FROM JACK:  I like anyone and any thing that causes me to think.