not original...

but something that seems to be so applicable to lots of different aspects of daily living and worth printing, provided  here for your edification and pondering. Before we get started, I will have to give credit to Martha Beck, who writes an advice column in the "O" magazine. The heading for the article is 'Advice for the Ages'.

Five rules for Lasting Joy

1. Honesty Is the Best Policy. When we weave webs of deception, we need to expend enormous mental energy to prevent them from tangling; as a result we're left with less brainpower for solving real problems.
2. Give up on Toxic People. Many people become wiser, calmer and emotionally healthier with age and experience. Others display neither psychological health nor interest in changing. You may have already spent much of your life trying to get the love you deserve and need from someone in the second group. I'm sorry, but that love will not be forthcoming. Go find people who are willing to love you.
3. Let It Go. According to neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD, when you feel an emotion caused by a negative event, it takes only 90 seconds for the body to process the resulting stress and return to its baseline setting. Next time you're overwhelmed by a terrible situation, dive in for 90 seconds. Don't think, just feel. It will be over very soon.
4. Trust Your Gut.  Complex thought has its place, but your senses are your most effective tool. Thoughts can 'spin' our reactions to what we encounter, while gut-deep impulses we get from instinct are usually more honest.
5. You're More Powerful Than You Know.  We stumble into the delusion of powerlessness in our lives because we are afraid of how other people would react if we did what we wanted. But it's our job to defy that fear, no matter what others may say or do, and to trust that love will carry us through.

It's made me think of people I encounter who seem to critical, constantly berating others (especially children!), or chronically negative, and realize it behooves all of us to spend as little time as possible with folks who are forever grumping about how the world is such a terrible place and they are so mistreated and put-upon. And remember the guy who said, when he was listening to someone  complaining about standing in a long line at the bank or grocery check out: 'It beats being dead.'