The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
We have a forum topic where members can make suggestions for things they’d like to see in our writing prompts. Among the great suggestions people are making, Sabrina (aka Albion) has a question about mantras.
I don’t really have a mantra myself, at least not one that’s motivational or uplifting. I do, however, have a choice saying from my grandmother that I use when I’m getting overly emotionally involved in something that doesn’t really need my input, or where my opinion isn’t going to change anything… Does that count?
It’s really simple, in any case: “You can’t educate pork.” It means, basically, “there are some people you just can’t reason with; no matter how much you explain, they won’t learn/won’t see your point of view.” When I look it up online, there are a few results, but most people I know only know this saying from me! When I’m getting caught up in some silly debate online, I’ll take a deep breath and remind myself that “you can’t educate pork”… and step away. (Mostly!)
So in a sense I suppose I do have a mantra, albeit one that only applies when I’m getting myself overly involved in trying to change someone’s mind about something! What do you think? Do you have a mantra? What does it do for you? Share your answers in the comments, or perhaps use it to inspire your postcard messages this month!
84 comments so far
“If I wake up breathing, then it’s another good day.”
Thanks for this great target" MANTRA"
Nearly since 3 years i am sick of depression, starting on my stressful work and sometimes my day is out of control.
So i get a Mantra that might help me to accept my situation.
"I don't get stressed out by things I can't control or change."
when I'm agitated and very angry with someone I do Ho'oponopono
a VERY GOOD IDEA! IO I look my glass full, everyday . It is possible a Mantra like that?
I am sorry for my English!
Mantra ...tantra...Magic....
I am very motivated when i hear the cry...shout ... "Post" from the post man..
Which means I have mail....
I rush out and check my mail box.....
Even a single card is enough....it brings a 😊
And I Daily eagerly wait for this pleasant call...
My father went to jail for his newspaper articles, I haven't made it that far yet. Mantra from poet Joseph von Eichendorff
I'm not a very optimistic kind of person, so my mantra is "Oroa dig inte. Det ordnar sig aldrig."
"Don't worry. It won't work."
Mine is “Don’t borrow trouble” because I am very good at overthinking and expecting the worst. I got that from my mom. 😬 My next one would be “you can’t help everyone”. I want to but it’s impossible.
" É sobre isso, e tá tudo bem" aka It is what it is, and it's alright. This saying is quite trendy now in Brazil.
Postcards make life better. I really like the feeling of having a pen pal. Come and write to me privately.
I say to myself: "Do it with love, or let it be."
If you don't care where you are, you're not lost :-)
I have 2 - "Anything is possible" and at age 77 "Everyday above ground is a good day"
Stay true to yourself, not matter what.
The thing you can perceive easy has no control over you any more (Confucius)
And
If enthusiastically doing things you love, you can skip even the apocalypse.
My voicemail message is “BE KIND, EVERYONE HAS A BATTLE.” I guess that could be considered my mantra.
Whenever I was worried about messing something up, my father used to say "The only perfect man was nailed to the cross." Our family wasn't really religious, but this phrase has always meant a lot to me. It often calmed me down when I was up tight.
I do enjoy doing Postcrossing. It brought me a lot of happiness.
My mantra is...... you cant change what you cant control. People are going to be what they are and you cant change someones motive or character. You can decide whether their actions benefit you and are healthy and if not, you make the change.
I got mine from the bestselling author in Germany, Karin Kuschik: "I still decide who annoys me on my own."
It's about the inner attitude, of having control over what and who's bothering you. You're not the victim of your surroundings and environment. You're in control of what irks you.
When I struggle with procrastination, I usually say to myself:
"Strength of character. Decide what you want and find a way to get it."
I find comfort when I feel powerless in the saying from M.L King jr: ‘even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, i’d still plant my appletree..’ 🍎♥️
Life is too short to be grumpy. I am a happy person and I feel bad for people who are so negative with everything
This is a quote from Colonia ( western Germany), which I really like:
It’s as it is, and it comes as it comes and it has still gone well. This quote can bring calmness.
( in German, or better, in „Kölsch“ : Et is wie et is, und et kütt wie et kütt und et hätt noch immer jot jejange).
I like the Polish saying "nie mój cyrk, nie moje matpy" (not my circus, not my monkeys), meaning it is not your problem. Apparently, in Poland it is used as a giving-up-phrase during a discussion when you can't convince someone. For me, it helps to be clear about what problems you can solve or do something about and where you can save (emotional) energy and effort.
“You can’t change others. You can control yourself and your own response.”
We often struggle with all the possibilities we have. In such a situation my mantra is: a decision made is a good decision.
This year, I am trying to get a postcard from every state in the US. Please get in touch if you are interested in a direct swap.
"Everything will become beautiful in its time" from the book of Ephesians in the Bible!
"I was born to be real, not to be perfect" and the other one which is my tattoo "Carpe diem" means "seize thet day".
My mantra is simple: "Shit happens". I can do mistakes and say stupid things in a wrong moments but most of those things are not so serious even if for me their meaning sometimes grows out of the real portions and I keep blaming myself for one more stupidity - and more is to come, I am sure. I just try to breathe that feeling out of me and continue my life with good intentions :)
Hey hey hey world! My mantra has been chosen long ago when i was a school-girl when i happened to read the poem "If" by R. Kipling and i keep reciting it by heart, every line is so meaningful, so each can be a mantra:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!
Dear friends, hello! I do not know what a mantra is. I just live and enjoy life, I rejoice every day and the approach of spring. Olga.🤗
Panta rhei ! (Heraklit)
My mantra : dreams tend to come true
Something I ask myself often: "Is this the hill you wish to die on?"
In other words, how badly do I want to be correct? So badly that I'm willing to argue, rather than simply have an interesting conversation where I listen more?
Another example: Does it matter if my son wants to pierce his nose, or does matter more that the piercing does not change his loving nature? That sort of thing...
Meanwhile, I will definitely be borrowing "you can't educate pork" the next time I have a dispute with my computer. What a delightful expression! Thanks for sharing it.
The more uphill you have in life, the more beautiful the views are later on.
So never give up!!!
Each of us, consciously or not, has his own "mantra", a recurring thought that forms the background of our daily lives and leads us to act for better or for worse (mantras are not always positive, like people in whose mind only the word "money" eagerly resounds...)
I personally have at least a couple that I'm aware of:
"leave the world a little better than how you found it", "don't ask yourself what others can do for you, but what you can do for others" and "there are those who look at things as they are, and wonder why .. I dream of things that aren't there, and I wonder why not" (I learned this last mantra from Bob Kennedy, who in turn made it his own from a sentence from The George Bernard Show)
Days often run hectic, but for me it's really useful to have phrases that help you not lose one's bearings!
Greetings to all from Rome, Italy
I have been using as a matra a sentence my boyfriend's grandfather used to say (I never got to meet him, though): Haz lo que haces (do what you do).
It means that in face of adversity, anxiousness and worries, you have to keep working, one step at a time. Just keep working. It has helped me on difficult times when my anxiety gets so bad it paralyzes me.
My mantra is”Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life”
I alway try to say to myself (especially at work) "Don't care about those who talk behind your back. That simply means you're already two steps ahead of them"
"All this has happened before and will happen again"
love rules!
In German: Liebe deine Heimat mehr als dich selbst.
In English: Love your homeland more than yourself.
(It means not a government or a political system)
A little bit is Bettler than nothing.
One of mine is...not my monkeys, not my circus.
a done thing is better than a perfect thing! I have done so many things using this mantra, it helps me to battle my perfectionism :)
If I am in peace, I'm OK... that's what matters!
I've struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life and I value little moments of joy, like listening to the rain, talking to friends, reading a nice book, watching birds, writing post cards...
The serenity prayer:
grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference . . .
when I need to focus hoen inside me: clean up your inner chaos and feel the peace within
That`s my favorite mantra:
"Don't believe everything you think!"
I try to remember this when I am angry or confused about what someone has done or does- "Don't judge someone before you've walked a mile in their shoes." It is often possible to understand from the other person's point of view why the person acted the way he (or she) did.
The phrase I most often say to myself when something is coming up, such as a dentist appointment, is "this time next week it will all be over" with increasingly optimistic variations "this time tomorrow it will all be over", "only 2 hours and it will all be over".
My new dentist is lovely and since I found her I no longer have a bad dream in the nights before a visit, dreams in which I think I have small stones rolling around in my mouth then I realise these are my teeth, then I used to wake in fright - these dreams now just a not so nice memory.
When I leave the dentist's rooms I cross the road and buy a supply of my favourite gingerbread men - seven so I have one for each day for a week. This is a very nice memory, one soon to be repeated - I think I may be looking forward to my next dental appointment already.
"this time next month I'll be eating a gingerbread man"
My mantra is: Things will be better tomorrow, but I'll probably be dead by tonight.
Many moons ago when I had a trainer at the gym I had shoes that had the saying "just do it" printed on them. weirdly it would help me power through when my body was screaming "stop this madness!" Sadly since covid I have not been back to the gym - I need to look out those shoes..............
Hi Everyone, I love to say to people who are busy, "Step by Step".
When someone ask me: " How are you?" My answer is most of the times, "I'm still alive and kicking or I'm medium rare".
Eeyore (from Winnie The Pooh) said; "If it is not happening today that it is happening tomorrow".
Enjoy......
One day, thankfully - "how you do what you do is more important than what you do" - came to me. =)
...it can sound quite radical, depending on the angle from which one is looking at it, but it kinda explains the workings of the small things in life that are going on in between the big great things that most people use to only focus on... and while doing that, they miss the bigger picture of everything.
I had a mantra when I was working in telecommunications. I maintained equipment in the background, so not customer facing. My mantra was; I don't do poles or holes or come to your house to fix your stuff! Usually said to folks who found out I was in telephones and wanted me to go fix their phones...for free :)
Now that I'm retired, I use; "Whatever works for you". In answer to 'what is the best way to do....'
My mantra is "Whatever you seek, you find in yourself". A folk poem by the Sufistic sect of heterodox Islam inspired by Hinduism.
“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future”, by Oscar Wilde
"Don't get excited over the little stuff."
My current morning mantra is: ‘What would you do if you were happy…’.
It sets me on a positive road.
If I had to choose one, it would be "Sano, mitä ajattelet. Ajattele, mitä sanot". Say what you think. Think what you say. As someone who struggles with communication sometimes, that has been very helpful. It would actually be even more so if everyone did that.
Another good one is "If we don't know how things will turn out, let's suppose they'll turn out good".
Hello! It´s normal that i have write 10 postcard in december and didn´t receive one?
Thanks
My mantra is :
I think love has no size at all. There is only a Yes or No.
Be Interested. Be interesting.
Wow! Unbelievable!
Can swearing be considered a mantra?
My mantra these days is: All is well in my world. It stops me from over thinking and analyzing and making trouble out of nothing. It brings me into peaceful now.
Do not believe everything you think
"When you follow cattle, you always step in poop!"
I have some favorite mantras. But it's just a comfort, and I don't expect it to change anything for me. It's an item that calms you down.
"This, too, shall pass."
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle--JM Barry
My mantra is :
Change what you can and accept what you can't.
Live and let live. I'm 82 and have tried to embrace it since my adulthood
There's a reason for everything that happens. Some we understand, some we don't, and some we may never understand.
Meaning: Let it be what it is. Time may or may not tell.
I try to keep a phrase from the "Judd's" song grampa in my mind when I get tired. "Keep a going, hard work never did a body harm"
If all I have is today- thank you for today!
because every thing in life is constantly changing I continue to look for ways to find more peace, give more, take less, feel more, listen better, love more, help more.
Mantra = lifestyle = how you spend your money. Furtunately I have surplus. I spend a lot in joint experiences with family and friends. Not difficult to find something with commom interests - small or large. Then when ever I meet someone in my flok my mind is somewhat focused on good memory. Probably others has the same as we are embrasing - joy of life.
My mantra is..."If you can't change the situation, change your attitude to it"
My mantra is actually a poem, written by Theodor Fontane „überlass es der Zeit“, which -in summary- means:
In case someone or something enrages you, don‘t touch it, don‘t argue… let it be. At first, you will call yourself a coward. But after some time, you‘ll get over it. Everything is important only in a moment. Anger is a parasite and poison. Time is peacemaker.
I have a similar motto/mantra that says "Pearls before swine". I believe it's Biblical in origin, and just means "the unintelligent aren't going to understand these pearls of wisdom you are speaking"..lol.
Tomorrow will be worse than the day after tomorrow.
It isn't 'Tomorrow will be better than today', but it's ruther positive now.
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