Word of the Week 7
TERMINATION
It can piss someone off to no end when people do not know when they have crossed the line, and a joke should be over. Timely termination of casual banter is an aspect of diplomatic relations and should be considered at all times. Failure to do so could result in connections being severed or communications breaking down. And tension. Don’t fuck around with me.
Word of the Week 6
REGRET
I’ve long advocated that feeling regret is just evidence of bad planning, which can include both planning incorrectly or failing to plan for something that happens. And then it happens, you didn’t want it to, so you feel bad.
Well, even if you are a poor planner, you shouldn’t regret the things which might not have gone so well. Remorse only lowers your morale and depresses your mood - both of these things will only hamper you in the long run.
Learn from your mistakes, certainly, but then move on. Do not dwell on the failure or it will haunt you forever, and regretting your mistake will turn out to be more destructive than the mistake itself was in the first place. Stay strong, move on.
Word of the Week 5
GRATITUDE
You might think this one is obvious, in which case, you are wrong.
This isn’t just a good-relations word. The good relations that will follow from showing proper gratitude for a service or gift (while still being honest - there’s a knack to this) are important for maintaining or forming bonds with people, but that’s not the whole.
Being grateful even when there is nobody to show your gratitude to is not only good practice, but it keeps the balance. It lets the universe know that whatever force has driven your fortune is recognised and appreciated. Get on the universe’s good side, trust me - you’re here all your life.
Word of the Week 3
DIPLOMACY
Last week the members of Flat 9 had a “run-in” with some of the members of Flat 11, who were a bit put out that our more vocal residents had been disturbing them in the night.
It was a fair request that we tone it down in the early hours, and if you know certain Flat 9 members like I do, you’ll know that no request is too fair to be argued with. But with a little well-placed diplomacy, I think that potential unpleasantness was averted quite successfully.
Remember kids, a diplomatic person is a long-lived person.
Word of the Week 2
This week’s word is:
SUPPRESSION
The reason I’ve picked this word is quite simply that some people might have a problem with the speed at which certain truths are confirmed and connections established.
What I mean here is to ask this question: why, if two people feel a certain way about one another, should those two people have to suppress their feelings if they haven’t known each other for very long?
The answer, of course, is that there is no real reason for the two people in question to wait. Just tradition, or custom, or habit. Just because other people need to wait and see if their instincts prove sound, that may not hold true for everyone. Some people trust their initial feelings because they can trust themselves. Of course, this won’t make any real difference to the people who are already set in their media-driven mindset, but maybe there’s no hope for any of them, and it’s best to let them be. For others, I will be reinforcing an ideal you already hold - if you are wise enough for your feelings to be accurate, you’re encouraged to defeat this evil. For the third kind of person, those who don’t know what to think, hopefully you’ll have a new angle with this, and when you see one of these people who did act on instinct and is happy with his or her decision, you’ll remember who told you it can work.
Word of the Week 1
Ok, everyone - this is my first ‘Word of the Week,’ and this week we’re going to start with:
DISCRETION
Being a discreet friend can help your personal life greatly. It’s also one of the most common habits among people who live long, happy, successful lives. And a friend showing his or her trust by giving you the opportunity to choose between being discreet and spilling forth something to discredit them are showing one of the highest forms of trust - you should be honoured by this. Even if you have a fight with said friend, you should consider just what it means to have had that trust, and you should always have the decency and moral standing to uphold your honour and keep the secret, making the world a more trustworthy place to be.
