SIXTY

If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master. Michelangelo

I have been thinking about this lately. Having several family members with major medical problems, it tends to cross my mind. I’m really grateful to have a few friends who are professionals in dealing and talking about this. They have helped me to face it head on, not hide from it or be afraid of it. It helps me to think of death in terms of my own death. I know it’s coming eventually. None of us get out of here alive. For me, I see death as the next transition. I have been pleased with life. It’s been amazing. Even the crappy days have been full of life. How could I possibly be displeased with the next step. I miss some who have already gone on without me. I hope there may be those who will miss me when it’s my time to go. But more than that, I hope I taught them to enjoy being here, to enjoy life. It was so worth it.

FIFTY-NINE

In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence. Isaac Newton

I always enjoy reading about a scientist who believes in God. I love the idea that some of the smartest people on the planet admit that things are just a bit too orderly to be coincidence. I also like it when my friends remind me that a coincidence is just God’s way of remaining anonymous. What I really like about this quote is that it reminds me to look around and notice proof of God’s existence, in whatever form that takes. Earlier it was a good friend stopping by to say hello. Then it was a little one excited to be out in the rain, stomping in puddles.  Maybe next it will be the quiet, or the birds singing in the park, or just a moment to lean against someone I love.

FIFTY-EIGHT

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' Eleanor Roosevelt

I find this to be true. The best examples of this in my life are my friends who are veterans. Most of them have lived through some forms of hell I don’t even want to know about. All of them use it to say, “I made it through that, I can get through this.” For me, I look at what we went through trying to save James’ foot, trying to get ahead of the infection. We battled for two years. Eventually, James chose amputation and getting on with his life. When the doctor said, “Your kidneys are failing,” I thought, “Okay, we made it through that, we’ll get through this.” And we are. But we aren’t doing it alone. We’re doing it with the help of many friends and family. We’re doing it with the help of many who have lived through their own horrors and know that the best way to get through it is with the help of others.  

FIFTY-SEVEN

Well done is better than well said. Benjamin Franklin

I’m certain you know a few people who can, “talk a good game.” I much prefer people who can walk it. This reminds me of the saying, “Put your money where your mouth is” but it’s more than that. This is putting your hands and feet where your mouth is. Don’t just talk about the fact that the park needs cleaning up, get a garbage bag and go help. I can talk all day about wanting to help or support someone or something. When I actually do something about helping, then people look at me and think, “She really means it.” Another friend of mine used to say, “Your actions speak so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.” She meant this in reference to a woman who kept “talking” about behaving like a lady, yet she insisted on dressing and acting otherwise. We turned it around. You can say whatever you want about me, but the people who know me, who have seen my actions, they will never believe those lies. My well done will always speak louder than anyone’s well said.

FIFTY-SIX

How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. R. Buckminster Fuller

I once heard someone, a sailor I’m sure, say that it was much easier to turn a ship around at sea than in dry dock. It’s also true about almost anything, it’s easier to change the direction of something that is moving than to get something started moving. That sounds a little like a Newtonian law but I’ll save physics for another time. I know for me, if I am doing something, if I have a goal I am working towards, I am usually open to possible new directions and influences. Many times I have thought I was to be doing one thing and it turned out to be something altogether different. I recently started a meeting. I figured a few of us, six or so, would get together and talk about a book. The first meeting was eight of us. The second was sixteen. Obviously, there were bigger plans. I’m getting better at letting go of outcomes.

FIFTY-FIVE

The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. Neil Gaiman

I used to think I wanted to be Cher. I could have done everything possible to be her and at best, I would have been a lousy impression. Now, I want to be me. I can and am the best most perfect me on the planet. No one will ever be me better than I do it, even on my worst days. No one can be me exactly. Because I believe this to be true, I also believe that no one can tell the stories I tell the same way I would tell them. No one can draw the same picture. No one can live the same life. If this is true for me, then it is true for you too. No one can be you better than you, not even Cher, unless, of course, you are Cher. In that case, just keep being you, you’re doing an amazing job.