“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”.

Abe was very good at saying things that rarely needed any explanation. Maybe one day, I’ll have one tenth of the wisdom he had.

“Never attribute to malice, what you can attribute to stupidity”.

There are many variations of this, it’s not as old as Ockham, but it is just as useful, if not more in day to day life.

We often see and hear of people who do a lot of things that make us angry, it’s very easy to think that the person is doing those things out of spite, on purpose or because they’re allied with the rest of the world, who is definitely out to get you.

Next time you feel someone is doing something outrageously malicous, remember, they may not know any better. Assess the damage of their actions, and then move on. Once you realize that they’re not on the same page as you, and are probably misunderstanding the issue, it’ll help you relax a lot more.

This is going to be hard for a lot of people to follow, but I am a firm believer in the human spirit, we do a lot of selfish things, and we do look out for ourselves, but I do believe in the general goodness of people, and I have faith, despite the many differences in opinions we have, we all want what we think is best for us and everyone else.

This is from a Dale Carnegie book I’m reading, and I think it’s a very good way to live your life. “Count your blessings, not your troubles”.

At the risk of getting too personal, or philosophical, I think this is a very simple, and good way to live. It’s common sense as well, but not common practice.

Over the past 3 weeks, all I was doing was bitching about how many hours I have to work, and how I have no life.. but considering I’m a contractor, and I get paid by the hour, I should be happy that I have billable hours. Sure, some of the work is repetitive, uninteresting, and below my skill level, but considering 4 years ago, I drove across the country to find work.. having too much of it, is not something I should complain about. I’m self employed, and I don’t think I need to look for another contract for at least another year, what was I bitching about?

Now I’m also not saying I should be so happy with the amount of work, that I spend all my time at work, but I need to find the right balance, but I also needed to put my attitude in perspective. After all, I’m not finding the cure for cancer here.. it’s just a website.