Wise Words for You

The heart is like a flower – unless it is open it cannot release its fragrance into the world. The fragrance of the heart is made up of the qualities and virtues of our spirit. Most of us have learned how to keep our heart closed in a world that would trample all over us if we let it. Being open hearted today seems to require tremendous courage. It is a courage which comes only when we realise that no one can hurt us, no matter what they say or do. They may hurt our body, but if we have realised we are spirit, nothing outside can touch us, if we so decide. Little by little, practice opening your heart to those you think have hurt you. Realise it wasn’t them that hurt you, it was yourself. And it taught you not to trust and you closed your heart. A closed heart is in need of opening. And when you do, you will have begun to heal yourself.

Every year on Christmas Day the Queen  delivers her annual message to the nation in a tradition started by her grandfather George V in 1932. The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast is one of the few occasions when the 92-year-old head of monarch is entitled to speak freely about her views. The message, recorded on December 12, is written by the Queen and is likely to reference some of the major events of 2018. In previous years she has used the occasion to talk about British and Commonwealth troops serving in Iraq, plus the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Last year, the Queen reflected on the importance of home in light of the Grenfell Tower Fire, and UK terrorist attacks. What is in the 2018 Christmas speech? Is it about Brexit? This year the Queen will use her Christmas Day broadcast to say the Christian message of "peace on earth and goodwill to all" is needed "as much as ever". Delivering her address, the Queen will also say the message is “...

If I am not getting what I want or need, I may need to adopt a different approach. Instead of focusing on my own desires, I need to understand that perhaps I’m not getting what I want for a reason – perhaps I’m not ready for it yet. If I concentrate instead on what I have to give to others, I will find that what I need comes to me naturally.

In his book, “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School,” Mark McCormack made an interesting discovery about the 1979 graduating MBA class. Within the group, 3% had written goals, 13% had thought of some goals and the balance were just thrilled to be out of school. John Douglas highlights that what’s really intriguing is what happened ten years down the road. Here are the results and success of the group after a decade: The group that had not-written their goals 13% of the class, but had thought about them were making TWICE in their Profession compared to the 84% of those who had no goals after leaving Harvard. The group with written goals 3% of the class was making TEN TIMES what the other 97% were making on average. John Douglas thinks you would agree that the students at Harvard Business School have a long history of knowing what they are doing. So if the top 3% were able to make TEN TIMES the money as everyone else by si...

You don’t appreciate the art of a good genre contrivance until you see one pulled off poorly. There is so much “stuff” thrown at us in the opening minutes of  Bird Box —  someone on a radio talking about a safe-house compound, two nameless children in blindfolds, and yes, those titular birds in that titular box — that one feels instantly alienated by the sheer force of the effect on display. All fiction asks us to care about invented events and stakes, but sometimes a film never manages to puff itself up into something bigger than the sum of its parts, like a meringue in a greasy bowl. And the more serious and downbeat and gray the proceedings, the further the mind wanders. Bird Box,  like several other popular Netflix titles,   feels like a film written by algorithm, but it is in fact based on a 2014 novel by Josh Malerman, the kind of book that gets optioned a year before its release date. It’s set around a mysterious apocalyptic event wherein if one opens one’...

Planes, trains and automobiles may all slow down on Christmas Day, but there is one part of the UK where a comprehensive bus service will be in operation. Southern Vectis, part of The Go-Ahead Group, will run a comprehensive bus service across the Isle of Wight on December 25. The island is one of the only parts of the UK to see normal transport run throughout the festive season, allowing residents to visit friends and family, get to work and those full of festive spirit to travel home safely. The operator began running a few Christmas Day buses in 2008 and has gradually increased its services. Drivers sign-up for the festive shifts, and this year Southern Vectis was over-subscribed with drivers eager to don their Santa hats and festive jumpers before getting behind the wheel. Andrew Wickham, Managing Director of Southern Vectis, said: “People on the Isle of Wight appreciate being able to get around on Christmas Day whether it’s to visit family, see friends or simply get out o...

Through our thoughts, we are either gaining power or losing it. With pure thoughts power is generated, and with impure thoughts power is destroyed. Pure thoughts are those that express our spiritual personality, impure thoughts are all the others. They have nothing to do with our truth. Thought is the vehicle which takes us from our non-spiritual self to our truth.

Every day is an opportunity to be creative – the canvas is your mind, the brushes and colours are your thoughts and feelings, the panorama is your story, the complete picture is a work of art called, ‘my life’. Be careful what you put on the canvas of your mind today – it matters.

Stagecoach is now offering contactless payments on every single one of its vehicles across the UK, following a multi-million pound investment for customers. (L-R) Douglas Robertson, Commercial Director for Stagecoach East Scotland - David Frenz, Operations Director for Stagecoach East Scotland - Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity - Jon Oakey, Acting Managing Director for Stagecoach East Scotland Millions of Stagecoach passengers now have access to contactless bus travel after the company completed the roll-out of the technology which now covers 7,400 vehicles operating within Stagecoach’s regional bus businesses in Scotland, England and Wales. The Stagecoach scheme is the single largest contactless merchant in Europe, after Transport for London. During Stagecoach’s company-wide rollout of the technology, more than 100 depots were completed during the past 100 weeks, following an initial pilot. It includes all Stagecoach regional c...

Behind all creation is silence. Silence is the essential condition, the vital ingredient for all creation and all that is created. It is a power in its own right. The artist starts with a blank canvas – silence. The composer places it between and behind the notes. The very ground of your being, out of which comes all your thoughts, is silence. The way to silence is through meditation. When you arrive in your own silence you will know true freedom and real power. Stop, take a minute, and listen to the silence within you today.

Only a powerful soul can offer love. Only a powerful soul can afford to be humble. If we are weak, then we become selfish. If we are empty, we take, but if we are filled, we automatically give to all. That is our nature.

First Glasgow has recently announced (29th November) that it plans to invest millions in more ultra-low emission vehicles, with additional funding being granted from the Scottish Green Bus Fund. The business plans to invest in another 75 new ultra-low emission vehicles for Glasgow in 2019, which includes £400k of investment from the Green Bus Fund and an additional £16.35million investment from First Bus. This follows on from more than £14million of investment in 2018, which highlights the city’s largest bus operator’s commitment to improving the quality of offering to its customers while at the same time playing its role in improving air quality in the city. At an event hosted at Alexander Dennis Ltd’s bus factory in Falkirk earlier this month, Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director for First Scotland met with Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson MSP to mark the latest award from the Scottish Green Bus Fund and to get a sneak peek at some of the...

If I allow bitterness and resentment to fester inside, it will make my relationships guarded and unsatisfying. The more I close down to others, the more I become a stranger to myself. By letting go of sorrow and negativity, I can keep my nature open and loving. Remaining open to life, with its constant adventures and opportunities to grow, is the only way to reach my full potential.

South Western Railway’s first fully refurbished and reconfigured Class 444 train has entered passenger service, offering additional seating capacity and high-quality improvements to passenger accommodation. The refurbishment and reconfiguration of the train is part of SWR’s £50m Desiro interior upgrade programme. The project is being delivered by the trains’ manufacturer, Siemens Mobility Limited and is designed to increase much needed seating capacity in standard class, and bring the interior accommodation up to date with some state-of-the-art features including enhanced Wi-Fi; inductive charging tables and at-seat power; and a full refurbishment of passenger accommodation using quality materials. Neil Drury, SWR’s Engineering Director said: “Our customers have been enjoying the benefits of refurbished accommodation on our Class 450 trains since December, and this train marks the start of phase two of the programme which offers additional seats as well. “When the refurbis...

The best kind of friend is the kind, you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away, feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had.