pearls of wisdom

Here are a few little sayings that I have acquired over the years. Some are from my mom, others are from bumper stickers I've seen in Wyoming.

• If there's nothing you can do about it, then it isn't about you right now.
• Resenting someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
• Be kind, everyone you meet is involved in a difficult struggle.
• Success is the best revenge, (murder is a close second).
• Don't take the stories that you write in your head for truth.
• Everybody poops.
  
• Guilt is not from God.
• No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.

What are some of bumper sticker worthy phrases you've heard and remembered?

What my summer has meant to me

Early in June, summer meant that I would get to catch up on all those projects that I didn't get to do during the school year: knitting that baby blanket (or four), reading the novels that sat idle on my bedside table, making candles, cooking every recipe in my Indian cookbook, writing and producing my first CD of folk ballads, re-landscaping my patio, discovering a new element, mediating world peace.

What did I really do this summer? Well, I caught up with "All My Children", took up golf, discovered indie-hipster music, texted, played some online Scrabble, and set aside time in each day to sit and stare out the window. And here's the thing, I had a remarkable summer.

In all the shoulda, coulda, woulda's that we clog our lives with, there is never the freedom to sit and be and enjoy the moment. A couple things happened this summer to bring me all to willingly into a place where I can sit and be, guilt-free. This is called "rejuventation" and it is a necessary part of life.

So what happened?

• I started reading lots of books and articles and poems which encouraged me to be present in each moment. It was interesting how it was sort of coming together, this idea of being mindful of each moment. This is the moment to embrace, and I want to be engaged in it.
• Some dear friends went through some big changes. In particular, my friend Amy decided to make a career shift into the wild and unpredictable world of self-employment. As I was pretty stable and rather idle this summer, I felt that I could encourage her to take the big leap. Shoot, I wasn't bungee jumping off the bridge, so why not sit back and help my friend take that big leap? But I learned something really valuable about faith in talking to her; first, if you are swinging from trapeze to trapeze, then you have to let go of the first bar before you can catch the second. That is the scary part. But the reward of letting go of the first bar isn't the bar you are swinging to, the reward is faith, trust, and the relief that you made it safely. The bar is just the means. My faith in God increases not when He blesses me, but because He is blessing me.
  
• My aunt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Big sigh. My Aunt Marti is 60 years old and is fresh and passionate about life. This diagnosis has come with a lot of tears, a lot of searching and a lot of processing. As I have talked to her, as I have played scrabble with her and longed to be in New York just to hang out with her, I have learned even more so that this moment is the one. We can't worry or be anxious about the future, especially when we don't know what the future will bring. Being present means being in this moment.

I hope that I am ready for the next school year. There are always "shoulda, coulda, wouldas" there too. But I know that what has been going through my mind this summer has prepared me for whatever moments come up this next school year. My job is just to show up for them.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on" --Robert Frost