Wisdom – 365 Days of 60

Blog Grogg

This morning I was running errands and decided to swing into my local coffee shop for a Highlander Grogg. This can caught my eye. It took me a nano second to get it. Then I really liked it. I quickly snapped a picture while the window girl was getting my coffee. I didn’t want her to think I was a demented stalker trying to get a photo of her.

The saying reminded me a bit of yoga. At the beginning of every class, the instructor says “Whatever is on your mind this morning, leave it on the mat. Lay it down and take this hour to focus on your breathing. Rest your mind and strengthen your body for this one little chunk of time.” To which I say to myself “Yes, please.”

Why do we fear change? I’ve been addressing this a bit in my recent blogs. I ran across a few quotes about change and want to share them.

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending ~ C.S. Lewis

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change ~ Stephen Hawking

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails ~ William Arthur Ward

There is nothing so stable as change ~ Bob Dylan

I so love that last one. Change is indeed a sign of stability. And the opposite of that, no change ever, is definitely an indication of shaky instability. It’s an irony, of course, but many truths are.

So do you want to complain about the wind, expect it to change, or adjust the sails?

Yes, me too. I want to adjust the sails and leave my fear of change in the tip jar.

Serious Sunday

This is a Zimbabwean proverb from the Shona tribe, meaning that a person who harms another or borrows from someone will often forget, but the person who is harmed or borrowed from will always remember.

Chop down a tree with an axe. The axe does its job, it cuts and destroys a once-standing, strong symbol of growth and life. The axe moves on to the next job, but the tree is forever changed.

When a person is distant from an event he or she has the mindset that the past is the past. It is forgotten and they have moved on. But often the victim is left ‘standing there with their guts hanging out’, as a friend once described personal pain.

Are you an axe or are you the tree?

I think we are both. I have been an axe. I have used words to hurt. I have also remained silent and utilized my axe in that form. In any manifestation, an axe brings pain.

I have also been the tree; having my bark shredded and my branches lopped off.

Because we are human and live in a broken world, we are going to cause pain and receive pain.

It is my thought that we must find a way to let go of the whole tree when we are injured. Allow the stuff underneath to die, as well. The gnarly and destructive unseen parts are where danger lies. Roots of bitterness cannot remain. They will continue to search out a new form, a new life in which to pour its poison.

Some hurts come to us due to our own decision-making. And some hurts come to us from an axe-wielding insidious source. Of the latter, we have no control.

That is when we must choose ~ will we spend the rest of our days maimed and send our bitter roots into another life-force or will we choose to become firewood and bring warmth and beauty to others?

Serious Sunday.

National Water a Flower Day

Who thinks this stuff up? If you have flowers you are going to water them. I doubt that you need a national day to bring it to mind.

I love flowers. I just finished my planting for the season.

I have Cincinnati Reds red impatiens and royal purple torenia. I have drought-loving, yellow lantana and delicate, lavender angelonia. I have traditional marigolds (which are supposed to help keep hungry mosquitoes at bay), hearty vinca mixed with wandering jew, a smattering of magenta petunias and three hanging Boston ferns. I also have a lovely, voracious dark purple clematis that seems to grow two inches every day. It has climbed way beyond the six foot lattice and is heading toward the roof lines.

I put a substantial amount of money into my flowers every spring. But in truth, it is well worth it. They bring me joy from the moment I begin to roam the garden store in early May, to the planting (I do not wear garden gloves because I love the feel of the dark, rich soil), to the care and and feeding of them. I look at my flowers every day. I deadhead what needs deadheading and occasionally say out loud to them “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

Early this morning, with coffee mug in one hand, I watered my beautiful flowers. However, I watered only the ones that require shade; the ones that are sitting on my front porch and the four pots beneath the covered patio. I knew that rain was predicted and it sure did come through. We had a steady rainfall that quenched the thirst of the rest of my flowers. I could nearly hear them sigh in relief.

Needing a national day to remind us to water a flower is like needing a national day to remind us to feed our dogs or put on clean underwear or put gas in the car.

These things are built into us. They are second nature. They are common sense. Let’s save the national days for something really important like reminding us to call a great-aunt or return a library book or schedule an appointment to get our teeth cleaned.

Ah, which reminds me, I am due for a dental checkup.

Fashion Don’ts

There is so much wrong here that I hardly know where to begin.

Do I start with the T-shirt shape or the holes or the statement itself?

Sometimes all you can say is “Oh honey.”

Oh honey, do not buy this shirt. Do not wear this shirt. Do not advertise your weaknesses.

We are all, occasionally, really good at making bad decisions. Sometimes those decisions are as benign as wearing the wrong shoes for a day of walking. Sometimes those decisions affect our health. For example, I should have chosen an apple for dessert last night instead of mocha chip ice-cream.

And yes, some decisions are life-changing. Some decisions hurt others and ourselves. Some decisions boomerang for generations.

We do not need to announce or wear our bad decisions. Most are obvious anyway.

I had a strong urge to take the purple Sharpie out of my purse and cross out the words “really” and “bad”. What this shirt, and most of us, need is a little bit of confidence. We must be the strong women (and men) that we are and begin to trust our decisions.

I know I am old, and sometimes wise, so listen up. Young women, even and especially high school girls, please never wear this kind of garbage. It is not cute. It is not clever. It is not funny. It is pitiful, actually.

The really bad decision here would be to purchase this shirt.