Forgive your enemies and live an extra seven-and-a-half years! You heard right genius.
Michael J.Gelb, author of How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, also told seekers of Happiness and Englightenment at the Happiness & Its Causes Conference at Brisbane's Convention and Exhibition Centre, about the Counter Clockwise Study which showed that you turn back the hands of time by believing you are young.
Scriffles, being a character out of a da Vinci painting, has of course forgiven all his enemies but he is a bigger soul than I - he is 500 years old!
We have argued and agreed to disagree about this. ;)
We all have at least one pair of shoes that never fit because one shoe fits the wronged foot and the other shoe fits the wrongee's foot - it's like watching Dancing With The Stars, awkward.
And forgiveness has to be sought. To me, Gelb and Scriff are really talking about letting go of resentment - which is quite a different thing. Resentment is murderous!
Built up over decades, a resentment is difficult to toss away for a mere seven-and-a-half years.
However, Gelb's advice to find happiness by doing the thing you always wanted to do makes sense - this too is my truth.
The Renaissance was built on the pursuit and exploration of Truth, Beauty and Goodness - finding a higher self, being centered and serene.
Did you know that Copernicus - the man who first suggested that the Earth is not the centre of our universe - was seeking perfection?
Apparently, the maths for the old way of thinking was awkward and he thought that God would not do such sloppy math! He was right.
Leonardo - a genius - had insatiable curiosity and a grand passion to know Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Did you know that he invented the parachute - centuries before people took to the skies?
Recently someone tested his parachute design by jumping out of a plane. It worked! Was da Vinci the Apple of his time or what?
I haven't thought this day's lecture through properly yet but when I look at the gridlock - and think of all the money spent of transport plans that just collected dust over the past 20 years - or when I see an old person standing on the bus while teenagers sit - and I remember how I was always made to stand for an adult - there are so many ways to trash Truth, Beauty and Goodness. That tunnel won't last 500 years will it?
Gelb has three secrets to Happiness: gratitude, forgiveness and humour. He also recommends faking it until you make it.