Thought for today:
"When all is said and done 'smug is smug' and no amount of persuasion will ever convince me that it's only one step removed from laughing silently behind your back!
When I was a Probation Officer, I recall once coming across a young man who was forever getting his custodial sentence extended and losing all remission because of his inability not to give a mouthful back to any Prison Officer who goaded him. The more he produced this type of aggressive response, the more they riled him. The answer was to teach him the power of active restraint whilst allowing his imagery, thoughts and self-talk to travel any path they wanted, so long as he kept them quiet.
The next time an officious Prison Officer tried to goad him with the aim of producing an aggressive response for which he could then be sanctioned, to their astonishment he remained calm and smiled back at them...while imagining a scenario in which something nasty happened to the said Officer whilst silently mouthing, 'fat head' at him as he continued to smile warmly. I also found this ploy very useful with a number of school children who had a personality clash with certain teachers whom they were constantly mouthing off to and attracting detention from.
Being quite pleased with my new discovery at the time, which I seriously considered patenting across the world, I told my mother and expected a pat on the back. Instead, all I got was her curt reply, 'I've been doing that to your dad for years, along with every other married woman I ever met. Grow up, Billy!' " William Forde: July 27th, 2015.
"When all is said and done 'smug is smug' and no amount of persuasion will ever convince me that it's only one step removed from laughing silently behind your back!
When I was a Probation Officer, I recall once coming across a young man who was forever getting his custodial sentence extended and losing all remission because of his inability not to give a mouthful back to any Prison Officer who goaded him. The more he produced this type of aggressive response, the more they riled him. The answer was to teach him the power of active restraint whilst allowing his imagery, thoughts and self-talk to travel any path they wanted, so long as he kept them quiet.
The next time an officious Prison Officer tried to goad him with the aim of producing an aggressive response for which he could then be sanctioned, to their astonishment he remained calm and smiled back at them...while imagining a scenario in which something nasty happened to the said Officer whilst silently mouthing, 'fat head' at him as he continued to smile warmly. I also found this ploy very useful with a number of school children who had a personality clash with certain teachers whom they were constantly mouthing off to and attracting detention from.
Being quite pleased with my new discovery at the time, which I seriously considered patenting across the world, I told my mother and expected a pat on the back. Instead, all I got was her curt reply, 'I've been doing that to your dad for years, along with every other married woman I ever met. Grow up, Billy!' " William Forde: July 27th, 2015.
