Key Takeaways
- Short, real pieces of positive world news can work like a daily vitamin for the mind, especially when they focus on health, education, young people and new medicines.
- Motivational quotes become more powerful when they come with simple facts about the person who said them, including dates of birth and death, country, main work and cause of death or illness.
- Clear images can explain hard ideas, such as why Portuguese speakers often understand Spanish faster than the other way round.
- Everyday language, like the Dutch words for plastic cable ties, can give a feeling of belonging and control.
- Small life lessons about social and emotional skills help turn strict rules into tools that serve people, not cages that control them.
Story & Details
Good news as a daily vitamin
In a world full of scary headlines, one person decided to look only for good news. The rule was simple but strict: the news had to be real, recent, positive and never repeated. The focus stayed on health, education, young people, new medicines and big victories for public health.
Some days the good news came from work on vaccines against malaria. These vaccines do not solve everything, but they help protect many children in countries where malaria is still a danger. Other days the bright spot was the end of wild poliovirus in large regions after long vaccination campaigns. Stories like these showed that slow, steady work by many people can change the world.
This kind of news did more than inform. It gave a sense of direction. Instead of feeling lost in fear, it became possible to think, “People are working on real problems, and sometimes they win.”
Quotes that carry real lives behind them
Short, powerful quotes were the second pillar. There was a special rule here too. A quote was not enough by itself. Each sentence needed a person behind it, and that person needed a simple human story.
For example, a writer like Gabriel García Márquez is easier to feel close to when it is clear that he was born on 6 March 1927 in Colombia, became famous for novels that mixed everyday life with magic, and died on 17 April 2014 in Mexico after a long illness that included cancer and lung problems. A scientist like Marie Curie feels more real when it is known that she was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, helped to discover new elements such as radium, and died on 4 July 1934 in France from a bone marrow disease caused by long exposure to radiation.
A modern business and design leader like Steve Jobs becomes more than a logo when it is clear that he was born on 24 February 1955 in California, helped to shape personal computers and smartphones, and died on 5 October 2011 after many years with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. A basketball coach and speaker like Jim Valvano stands out when people know that he was born on 10 March 1946 in New York, led a university team to a famous surprise win, and died on 28 April 1993 from cancer after giving strong talks about hope in the face of illness.
At the same time, living voices matter too. A psychologist such as Susan David, born in South Africa around 1970 and later based in the United States, talks about “emotional agility”, which means treating feelings as data, not as orders. There is no public report of a major illness in her life, and that is also a useful fact: not every strong voice must come from a story of sickness or tragedy.
With these details, each quote becomes more than a pretty line. It is a small bridge to a real human life, with a start date, an end date and a clear shape.
A simple picture for two close languages
There was also a wish to understand everyday questions in a way that even a child could follow. One example was the link between Portuguese and Spanish.
The image that helped was very concrete. One language can be imagined as a road full of gentle curves. The other feels more like a straight road. A person who grows up walking on curvy roads finds it easy to move on straight ones. A person who only knows straight roads feels confused at first when the path starts to bend in many small ways.
In simple terms, Portuguese has more small sound changes and “music” in its speech, while Spanish has clearer, more open sounds. Ears trained to many curves can follow straight speech more easily than ears trained only to straight sounds can follow the extra movements of another language. This picture is easy to remember and easy to share with friends.
Words for small plastic tools
Even very small words can carry weight. At work, there was a wish to feel less like a stranger in Dutch. One example was the name for plastic cable ties.
In many workplaces people use informal spellings like “tiewraps” or “tyraps”. The more formal and standard word in Dutch is “kabelbinders”. Knowing this gave a quiet sense of control. It is a reminder that learning everyday words, even for small tools, is part of feeling at home in a language.
Tiny lessons for daily life
Together with news and quotes, there was a need for small teachings about life. These were not big theories, but short ideas that are easy to hold.
One idea was to aim to make a situation “one percent clearer” instead of trying to fix everything at once. For example, writing down one key task, or sending a short message to say, “I want to talk about this later,” can already reduce confusion.
Another lesson used three circles of concern. In the first circle are things under direct control, such as when to go to bed or whether to answer a message. In the second circle are things that can be influenced but not fully controlled, such as how a hard talk at work will go. In the third circle are events beyond control, such as the weather or decisions by distant leaders. Sorting worries into these circles helps decide where to put energy.
There was also a strong focus on honest speech. Saying “I do not know” was treated as a sign of respect, not weakness. It was seen as better than inventing details. Linked to this was the idea of making a “version two” of a phrase before speaking. The first thought might be sharp or vague. The second attempt can be a little clearer and kinder, which often leads to better conversations.
These small teachings supported the same key point: rules and tools are good only if they serve the person. If a rule starts to hurt more than it helps, it is time to change it.
Horses, smell and safety
One question looked strange at first: do horses refuse drunk riders because they can smell alcohol? The answer joined body science and ethics.
Horses have a strong sense of smell. They probably can notice the scent of alcohol on breath and skin. But the real danger in this situation is not the smell itself. It is the way a drunk person sits on the saddle, moves and reacts. A rider who is unsteady, off-balance and slow to respond is unfair to the animal and unsafe for everyone nearby.
This is why some places treat riding a horse while drunk in a similar way to driving a vehicle while drunk. The concern is not only for human safety on the road, but also for the welfare of the horse, which should not be forced to carry someone who cannot guide it properly.
Calm, fear and the limits of structure
Under all these topics runs one quiet theme. Calm does not mean that fear has gone. A person can still feel afraid and yet choose to move more slowly, breathe more steadily and speak more carefully.
Good news, clear quotes, clever images, local words, small teachings and even odd questions about horses all help to build a sense of structure. But real safety does not come from structure alone. If the frame becomes too rigid, it starts to press on the person inside. The most helpful moment is when it becomes clear that the rule is there to serve the person, not the person to serve the rule.
At that point, a strict rule can be softened, a heavy standard can be lowered, and the same tools—news, quotes, questions and lessons—can become supports instead of chains.
Conclusions
The mix of world news, motivational quotes, language images, workplace words and tiny life lessons may look random at first. In fact it forms a simple, human system.
Positive news stories show that large, slow changes are possible. Short quotes with real biographies attach big ideas to real lives. Easy pictures explain why some things feel hard, such as learning another language. Small words from the local workplace help build a sense of belonging. Everyday teachings about control, honesty and better phrases turn social contact into something a little safer.
Questions about horses and drunk riders, and reflections on calm and fear, push this system beyond pure comfort and into ethics and care. They ask how to move through the world in a way that is safe for self and others.
Together, these elements suggest a quiet way to steady a shaky day: look for good news, listen to wise voices, learn simple images and words, keep rules flexible, and let calm live side by side with fear instead of trying to erase it.
Selected References
[1] World Health Organization – Main site with information on malaria, vaccines and wider global health work.
https://www.who.int
[2] World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa – Information on polio eradication and certification of wild poliovirus elimination in the African Region.
https://www.afro.who.int
[3] Center for Nonviolent Communication – Background on Marshall Rosenberg’s work on communication and conflict resolution.
https://www.cnvc.org
[4] Susan David, PhD – Information on emotional agility and resources on dealing with difficult emotions.
https://www.susandavid.com
[5] TED – Brené Brown: “The power of vulnerability” (YouTube video from the official TED channel on vulnerability, shame and courage).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o
Appendix
Calm
A state where the body and mind slow down enough to notice what is happening, even when problems are not solved and fear is still present.
Emotional agility
An approach to inner life where feelings are noticed and accepted rather than fought, then used as information to choose actions that fit personal values instead of automatic reactions.
Nonviolent communication
A way of speaking and listening that focuses on clear observation, honest feelings, basic human needs and concrete requests, aiming to reduce blame and conflict and increase understanding.
Shell
An image for inner armour, used when someone feels closed off from the world. It suggests safety from outside pressure but also distance from help, care and shared life.
Task-list life
A way of living in which many actions, even very small ones, are written down and checked off. It can give a sense of order and progress, especially under stress, but can feel heavy when the list grows faster than the energy to handle it.
Vulnerability
The feeling of being open to hurt, rejection or failure. It can be frightening, but it is also the place where real contact, courage and change can start, and it is a common theme in modern psychology talks and books.
Youth pattern
A strict routine or intense schedule, such as going to bed very early and waking in the middle of the night, that may be easier to keep in younger years and more demanding as tiredness and adult duties build up.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 