The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
We have a forum topic where members can make suggestions for things they’d like to see in our writing prompts. Among the great suggestions people are making, Sabrina (aka Albion) has a question about mantras.
I don’t really have a mantra myself, at least not one that’s motivational or uplifting. I do, however, have a choice saying from my grandmother that I use when I’m getting overly emotionally involved in something that doesn’t really need my input, or where my opinion isn’t going to change anything… Does that count?
It’s really simple, in any case: “You can’t educate pork.” It means, basically, “there are some people you just can’t reason with; no matter how much you explain, they won’t learn/won’t see your point of view.” When I look it up online, there are a few results, but most people I know only know this saying from me! When I’m getting caught up in some silly debate online, I’ll take a deep breath and remind myself that “you can’t educate pork”… and step away. (Mostly!)
So in a sense I suppose I do have a mantra, albeit one that only applies when I’m getting myself overly involved in trying to change someone’s mind about something! What do you think? Do you have a mantra? What does it do for you? Share your answers in the comments, or perhaps use it to inspire your postcard messages this month!
88 comments so far
Nearly since 3 years i am sick of depression, starting on my stressful work and sometimes my day is out of control.
So i get a Mantra that might help me to accept my situation.
"I don't get stressed out by things I can't control or change."
I am sorry for my English!
I am very motivated when i hear the cry...shout ... "Post" from the post man..
Which means I have mail....
I rush out and check my mail box.....
Even a single card is enough....it brings a 😊
And I Daily eagerly wait for this pleasant call...
"Don't worry. It won't work."
And
If enthusiastically doing things you love, you can skip even the apocalypse.
It's about the inner attitude, of having control over what and who's bothering you. You're not the victim of your surroundings and environment. You're in control of what irks you.
"Strength of character. Decide what you want and find a way to get it."
It’s as it is, and it comes as it comes and it has still gone well. This quote can bring calmness.
( in German, or better, in „Kölsch“ : Et is wie et is, und et kütt wie et kütt und et hätt noch immer jot jejange).
This year, I am trying to get a postcard from every state in the US. Please get in touch if you are interested in a direct swap.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!
In other words, how badly do I want to be correct? So badly that I'm willing to argue, rather than simply have an interesting conversation where I listen more?
Another example: Does it matter if my son wants to pierce his nose, or does matter more that the piercing does not change his loving nature? That sort of thing...
Meanwhile, I will definitely be borrowing "you can't educate pork" the next time I have a dispute with my computer. What a delightful expression! Thanks for sharing it.
So never give up!!!
I personally have at least a couple that I'm aware of:
"leave the world a little better than how you found it", "don't ask yourself what others can do for you, but what you can do for others" and "there are those who look at things as they are, and wonder why .. I dream of things that aren't there, and I wonder why not" (I learned this last mantra from Bob Kennedy, who in turn made it his own from a sentence from The George Bernard Show)
Days often run hectic, but for me it's really useful to have phrases that help you not lose one's bearings!
Greetings to all from Rome, Italy
It means that in face of adversity, anxiousness and worries, you have to keep working, one step at a time. Just keep working. It has helped me on difficult times when my anxiety gets so bad it paralyzes me.
I like it because it was something personal that related to him even if people would not understand it right away. He even kept the quote on his home screensaver as a constant reminder.
In English: Love your homeland more than yourself.
(It means not a government or a political system)
I've struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life and I value little moments of joy, like listening to the rain, talking to friends, reading a nice book, watching birds, writing post cards...
grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference . . .
"Don't believe everything you think!"
My new dentist is lovely and since I found her I no longer have a bad dream in the nights before a visit, dreams in which I think I have small stones rolling around in my mouth then I realise these are my teeth, then I used to wake in fright - these dreams now just a not so nice memory.
When I leave the dentist's rooms I cross the road and buy a supply of my favourite gingerbread men - seven so I have one for each day for a week. This is a very nice memory, one soon to be repeated - I think I may be looking forward to my next dental appointment already.
"this time next month I'll be eating a gingerbread man"
When someone ask me: " How are you?" My answer is most of the times, "I'm still alive and kicking or I'm medium rare".
Eeyore (from Winnie The Pooh) said; "If it is not happening today that it is happening tomorrow".
Enjoy......
...it can sound quite radical, depending on the angle from which one is looking at it, but it kinda explains the workings of the small things in life that are going on in between the big great things that most people use to only focus on... and while doing that, they miss the bigger picture of everything.
Now that I'm retired, I use; "Whatever works for you". In answer to 'what is the best way to do....'
It sets me on a positive road.
Another good one is "If we don't know how things will turn out, let's suppose they'll turn out good".
Thanks
I think love has no size at all. There is only a Yes or No.
Change what you can and accept what you can't.
Meaning: Let it be what it is. Time may or may not tell.
In case someone or something enrages you, don‘t touch it, don‘t argue… let it be. At first, you will call yourself a coward. But after some time, you‘ll get over it. Everything is important only in a moment. Anger is a parasite and poison. Time is peacemaker.
It isn't 'Tomorrow will be better than today', but it's ruther positive now.
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