Apparently, Winston Churchill loved Paraprosdokians, but what is it?

Here is the definition and a few examples:

“Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.”

1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.
3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.
6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left..
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks..
12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’
13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
17. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
18. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
19. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.
20. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
21. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
22. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
23. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
24. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
25. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
26. Where there’s a will, there are relatives.

However I would like to share the following information that changed my way of thinking and engaging, from the work of David Rock and discussed as my own interpretation. Research has proofed that at all times wê are engaging in one of the following types of thinking:

•Vision (Dreaming and creating new things for the better of the world and ourselves.)

•Process (Developing and optimising processes. The how of achieving. Building quantum relationships.)

•Detail (Thinking and talking about the detail. The rule is not to ponder to long, in this thoughts as one will not get to doing.)

•Problems (Thinking and discussing the things that are not working. Somebody had once said that this type of conversation is like water standing, it is no good and will shortly be invested by all types of insects and viruses, so let the thoughts move like a running river.)

•Drama (Thinking and discussing all those bad things that happened and will still happen and forgetting to open the Present in the moment.)

The research confirms that our thinking needs to be focused on vision and process. So my challenge to you is for the next month, reflect everyday were you were hanging around in your thoughts.

• Things you love and always use
• Things you never use and want to throw away
• Things you never use and can donate

Enjoy the journey to less clutter

Predictors – Helping to mold our future

Reminders – That we cannot succeed alone

Opportunities – Let us stop to make step changes

Blessings – Oppening up oppertunities that we would have missed

Lessons – Preparring us for the future by creating a learning experience

Everywhere – Remember life is not a fairytail and all of us do encounter problems.

Message – Warning light to be aware of possible dangers

Solvable – To all problems there are most probable different solutions

The above has been adapted from , John Maxwell’s,Go for Gold.

 The following words from one of the Veggie Tale songs discribes the impact of gossip and spreading of rumours so well:

It starts as a story. Maybe it’s true, maybe not, but once you repeat it it’s hard to defeat it. Now look at the mess that you’ve got! I’m a rumour weed! I’m a rumour weed! A tiny little story is all I need to make a big mess.

Next time before you start a rumour, remember you are becoming a rumour weed!

There was this man who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him. The man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, but the scorpion stung him again. Another man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him. But the man said, “It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?”

Source : Unknown

 One of the basic pre-suppositions in NLP is the person with the most flexibility will control the system. This does not mean that one need to give up one’s values as that will compromise one of the key components of influence and that is trustworthiness.

To be seen as trustworthy and to influence one need to practice the CCC:

Competence: Having the ability to make the right decisions, by understanding the impact on the system.

Character:  Having a character of abundance, acting with integrity and being honest.  This also means that one need to be vulnerable to be true to oneself but also to the people one interact with.

Connection:  The ability to really care about other, to be there for your people and the ability to really understand the concerns of people and to sell the new vision to people.