Quote of the Week...from William Arthur Ward

 It is wise to direct your anger at problems, not people...to focus your energies on answers, not excuses.

                                                                             ---William Arthur Ward

I picked up the above quote off my Music Choice Soundscapes channel, provided by my cable TV company and which features positive and philosophical quotes to accompany their ambient music.  William Arthur Ward, whom I've quoted before on this blog, was a twentieth century Christian leader within the Methodist movement whose self-improvement maxims were widely published in newspapers and magazines of the time, most notably Reader's Digest.  I'm discussing it here because I agree with it, but as usual I feel the need to tweak it a little.  For after all, many people nowadays equate their problems with certain people, either in their personal lives or on the national stage in politics or the media. For me, sometimes those politicians in charge are the ones I voted for, sometimes not...that's the way it has always gone in this republic where people vote for their leaders: wait a few years and try it again...maybe "my" guy or gal will win next time if they didn't the last.  On the personal level I think a lot of us...myself included...have fallen into the trap of sitting back and judging those around us without taking into account that our own willful interactions (or non-interactions) with them play a big role in their own attitudes and behavior toward us.  For myself, it's important that with each situation I find myself in that I determine what I'm trying to get out of it and focus on getting my goals accomplished...this helps keep me from that nasty habit of "sideways thinking", i.e. devoting my attention to what others are up to and whether they're being treated better than me or getting away with something they shouldn't.  There's a way to address problems with others...like Ward said, focusing on the problem and not the person while, I would add, communicating during most of any interaction about how much I value that individual. Although it's fair and even recommended to honestly recognize the harm that certain people may have done to me when I was but a child and not to sugarcoat those times...I still have to take responsibility for my own life now. To make excuses or play the blame game when things don't go my way isn't just counterproductive...it also tends to create more problems...