Bits of Wisdom with Terry Weaver

“Every moment of one’s existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.” Norman Mailer

The most encouraging part of this opening quote is that we get to choose our direction. We can advance or retreat, live a little more or die a bit today, expand our life, or shrink back in fear. It is our choice, and we alone get to make it.

I heard it said that history does not repeat itself, but that human nature does.

If this is true, and I believe it is, then we will always have the rise and fall of evil nations, corrupt politicians, and murderous individuals. But why is this?

Fundamentally, it’s because we are given free will. We are given the ability to choose, and this is one of the most significant truths in life.

Humans, throughout history, have decided, through their own justification, that genocide is acceptable, and that spending their life on a peace project is a worthy venture, or that a life of solitude as a monk is acceptable. The only common denominator is free will.

“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” Anais Nin

Each of us gets to wake up daily and decide what to pursue. Will we choose to build or destroy? Will we create art or war?

Or will we entirely choose a different path, one that says, I’m a product of the world around me, the culture I’ve grown up in, and my influences have shaped me?

This is the position of the victim; life happens to them, not because of them or by them. When someone says, ‘I can’t help it. It’s just the way I was raised’ or any other form of victimhood, they’ve decided to lay down their free will, and this is a grave mistake, and what these people do not realize is that even this is a choice one makes.

At the most fundamental level, we are bound or set free by our choices.

The titan and the peasant, the victor and the victim, the hero and the villain—each is separated from the other not by fate but by their beliefs and actions. The decision is yours. Choose wisely.

Have you taken inspiration from my writing? If so, consider helping me continue. I run on coffee and inspiration.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

If this Bit of Wisdom spoke to you, you might enjoy reading All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

If this Bit of Wisdom spoke to you, you might enjoy reading All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

The following is an excerpt from my book All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life. Available on Amazon.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

The following is an excerpt from my book All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life. Available on Amazon.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

The following is an excerpt from my book All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life. Available on Amazon.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.” Albert Schweitzer

The following is an excerpt from my book All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life. Available on Amazon.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

“Out of clutter find simplicity. From discord find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein

If this Bit of Wisdom spoke to you, you might enjoy reading All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

“The truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.” Socrates

If this Bit of Wisdom spoke to you, you might enjoy reading All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe

“Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow.” Kurt Vonnegut

If this Bit of Wisdom spoke to you, you might enjoy reading All My Best: Wisdom and Encouragement for a Better Life.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit terryweaver.substack.com/subscribe