Did you know that the part you hold in your hand when filling up with fuel at the end of the hose and inserting it into the opening of the tank is called a nozzle? I was not aware of it. It happened to me when I was driving and had to refuel that I didn't always know how the part worked. In the dumbest case, I'm at the petrol station, it has fuel, I have enough money, the tank is empty and ready for pick-up - but I'm incapable of operating the infrastructure correctly. And then if it's a marginal time and there's not another person around, all that set-up is of no use to me. Experience and knowledge are part of learning processes. We sometimes forget that and sometimes claim to have a qualified opinion on everything - which, of course, is correct from our point of view. Perhaps today is a day for conscious moments of humility.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In our time, science is finding that glaciers are increasingly melting. This is a trend that has been going on for a long time and there is no change in sight. On the contrary, experts are alarmed that the retreat is happening faster than previously thought. Are glaciers important? Yes. They are an important element for storing water and permafrost is therefore of central importance for the Alps. Many decades ago, probably no one would have cared about glacier deposits - but now that they are disappearing, they are getting attention. Maybe too late... often we only appreciate what we have when it is taken away from us or we are about to lose it. So today I encourage you to appreciate all the many things we take for granted in our everyday lives: Mobility, quality of life, security of supply, relationships etc. None of these things can be taken for granted.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

Doubts tend to have a negative connotation here. They are often equated with fickleness or indecisiveness. But I think doubt is good in itself. It is the conscious questioning of something once again. And in my opinion, that can't actually do any harm. On the contrary, doubt can become the starting point for a more conscious decision or attitude or whatever. Then, when I face the doubts, take them seriously and find a yes for a "nevertheless". In this way, my original attitude or opinion even emerges strengthened from the process. It's like the baker who kneads the dough well again before baking it and then processes it. However, should the doubts lead to a change of opinion, then they have also been worthwhile because a lack of complete conviction was obviously missing. So doubts are actually good - unless they involve us in an endless process. Then a readiness to make decisions is called for.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In some places there is an iron ring or something similar. For example, at our composting plant. There, a chain is attached to the ring so that the plant is not entered outside the operating hours. So the ring serves as a stable element for fastening - in this case a chain. If this ring were not there, it would probably be difficult to fasten the chain in such a way that it would hold. The ring therefore provides the necessary stability and tensile strength. I have never experienced that such a ring - wherever attached - could be torn away. Our lives sometimes also depend on such stable anchor points. Something that holds, even when pressure or tearing comes from outside. Especially then. I believe, this is my conviction, that God offers us such a ring in our relationship with his Son Jesus. So not a life free of worry or fear or problems. But something that remains stable and holds in all this.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I recently bought a nice, warm sheepskin. It's lovely to sit on because it's very soft and because it gives off a very pleasant warmth. So what is or was a natural protection against the cold for the animal still serves me in the same way today. That is not a matter of course at all. Normally, vital functions are only active as long as the creature in question is still alive. So with a tree, the bark is still moist as long as it is standing. If it is felled, it increasingly dries out. It could be the same with the fur: if the animal is dead, the fur loses its actual effect of heat insulation and protection. But this way I can benefit from it even after the sheep has died. Let this be an encouragement to you today to give good words, gestures and deeds to those around you. Even when you are long gone, the effect will remain.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

Peas grow in a pod. The pod serves as protection and thus keeps the little balls together. Theoretically, peas could also grow like berries. But this way they are hidden and protected in the protective shell of the pod. Only when the pod is opened do we have access to the fruit that we can eat. And so we talk about eating peas - not even thinking about the protective effect of the pods, which made it possible for the peas to ripen intact and without first being eaten by an animal - until we then harvest and enjoy them. Often parents or superiors also have a similar protective function. Function in the sense of: creating an environment where healthy growth can happen, where the necessary protection is also there. If you are enjoying such protection, thank them for it and if you are offering it, be encouraged to continue to do so.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In nature, nuts protect themselves from access by a hard shell. We humans can often only open them by force and a lot of strength. Nature obviously has a different solution. When the ripe nuts fall to the ground, moisture causes the nut to germinate as a seed. The rest is then growth, first underground via the roots, then of course above ground. However, it takes several years to decades until the tree produces the first nuts. Patience is needed. We humans react in certain situations where we want a quick solution or answer, as with the nuts: often with violence if we lack this patience. Violence can be physical or psychological. We can exert pressure with words as well as with hands or tools. Make sure that where you want rapid change, you do not resort to violence, but to patience and give natural growth a chance. Also in relationships.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I don't know if anyone likes coffee by nature. As a child I found it disgusting - today I like it. Obviously, something happened at some point that influenced, significantly changed my preference. I suspect it was habituation. I ingested something I originally disliked, became familiar with it, got used to it, and today I like it. It's an amazing progression and anything but natural. It shows in an impressive way how changeable our preferences can be and ultimately how flexible. Actually a very impressive, positive characteristic. But also dangerous. Just as we can acquire good habits and break bad ones, it can also work the other way around. If you know such bad habits, this may be an invitation to break them step by step, to practice the better ones. If you have good ones, be careful that you don't accidentally break them.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I assume most wristwatches have a dial. This is more or less decorated depending on the model. Some are totally simple or blank and the hands indicate the time to some extent, others are very precisely indexed with the individual minutes, so that a very accurate time reading is possible. However, this precision is only meaningful or useful where I can assume that the time is set correctly, i.e. accurately. The accuracy therefore indicates how close I come to the true value of the measurand. Precision, on the other hand, shows how close the individual detachments are to each other or, in the case of the clock, how finely I can determine the time. I think in relationships we often make the mistake of being very precise but often not accurate, especially in listening. So today, think about how accurately you listen rather than how precisely and see if that makes a difference.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I had tried varifocals some time ago. These are lenses that are ground in such a way that corrections for both near and distance are corrected, thus avoiding the need to wear two different pairs of glasses. I didn't really get on well with them. After a while, I put them away again and went back to the version with both glasses. However, there are people who get along very well with such a combined variant. Maybe it's just a question of getting used to it and having the patience to get used to it. I obviously lacked this patience - or I had too high demands for good vision, so that the compromise solution offered too little quality for me. So it is a question of demands and the willingness to bear the consequences. If you are in a similar situation where you have to make a decision and there is no perfect solution, have the courage to make a clear decision and be prepared to accept the consequences without hesitation and to live them with conviction.

I wish you an extraordinary day!