Think positive!

About 25 years ago I was working on a cruise ship and every night one of the performers used to close the show with the same sentence: ” Thank you and THINK POSITIVE”!

At the age of 20 something it didn’t mean much to me, or my colleagues, because we were young, we were free and the world belonged to us!

Getting older and realizing that life is not that easy after all,  I started remembering this sentence  every now and then.

Now, with the crisis that has effected us in Greece and other countries so very much, I think and I say it every day: “THINK POSITIVE!”

But then I get answers like: ” how can I, when there is nothing left of my old life?”  ” when everything I do is for nothing?”  ” when every new day is worse than the one before!”

It’s true, what can I answer? Except for: be strong, be patient and remember: IT IS ALWAYS THE DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN!

No news is good news!

 ‘One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession.’ (Edward R. Murrow 1908-1965)

Athens is a great place to have coffee, and when I say coffee, I mean sitting around, talking, having intensive discussions about important matters, getting to know some new acquaintance, or just enjoying the beautiful sea view, or observing the guests coming and going.

This is what I did yesterday and I thought to myself that everybody seemed so relaxed, calm and even happy. It seemed strange but also very positive with all the bad news about Greece on TV, on the radio, in Greece and worldwide.

Then it occurred to me that all these people must have stopped watching the daily news, just as I have done, months ago!

Why do journalists presenting the news have to put on that sad and worried face, the face that makes you upset and disturbed even before they start talking?

Then, all they say is the bad things going on in the country, the corruption, the pain, the dead-end it has come to…so you simply stop hoping, trying or feeling happy, which leads to a worse psychology and even less hope for the future.

If you don’t listen to the reporters on TV anymore you start feeling better right away! You don’t get manipulated by it, you rely on your own power, will and strength!

They cannot influence your creativity, your inspiration and your positivism.

I don’t mean that we should shut our eyes to what is going on around us, or to be ignorant, not at all.

Just to filter the information, even if it is just reading headlines on the internet, as a given fact, without all the discussions and negative comments that bring us to a point of no return.

Like Murrow said:

‘This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it’s nothing but wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful. ‘(Edward R. Murrow 1908-1965)

Thank you, Greece!!! Gracias, Grecia!

I just came across this fantastic video, done by a group of Spanish students who try to remind us, that we do need to thank Greece.

Why?, because the roots of our heritage come from Greece: Philosophy, mythology, mathematics, physics, architecture, theater, gymnastics,  Olympics, astronomy, anatomy, geography, history, politics…just to name a few,  are all Greek words reminding us that every aspect of our life, our knowledge, our health even our hobbies, are deeply connected to Greece.

So let’s thank them and most of all, support them in every way we can!

 

Good wines!

The impression “Good Wines”, in Greek kala krasia means something like : ‘whatever’  but sounds much more poetic.

(There are Greek expressions for nearly every feeling, every mood and every situation, but I will get back to this issue in another post.)

When thinking about Greece the first thing that comes to ones’ mind is the sun, the sea, the food and of course the fantastic wine this country has to offer.

Red or white or even retsina, whichever you prefer, they are all excellent.

As one of the first countries in the world to produce wine for more than 6000 years, they surely have the experience!

The wine god Dionysos is well known from Mythology, the fact that Greece was the nation first exporting and passing on the knowledge of wine production is less known.

Nevertheless, when in Greece, do like the Greeks. Sit in one of the picturesque tavernas, order some of the delicious plates and a carafe of house wine!

Lay back and enjoy the taste and don’t forget to take a bottle with you when flying home!

A friend in Austria just called me up and told me that she is enjoying a bottle of red from Santorini last summer.

So the snow and ice outside her window cannot do any harm to her tonight,  as she can practically feel the sunlight on her face!