What have I learned in 70 years? Life is good. God is my source for everything. You are never alone, even when you are the only one in your boat. Believe in your dreams. A true friend cannot be replaced. Time can be spent but not re-spent. Each day is a slate that you can erase and write over or replay the old. The past is a teacher not a yoke to wear forever. Nothing is unforgivable. Inside of silence is where the answers are. Faith is just a word unless you practice it. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. Everything that happened to you is a gift waiting to be discovered and released. Trust yourself; value yourself–you are an unrepeatable gift to the Universe. My parents did the best they could to be the best they could be. Being a Mom is such a difficult job— I wasn’t the parent I wanted to be, and the parent I was is good enough. Remember to love the people who are the most difficult to love–they are the ones who need it most. It costs nothing to be kind to someone. The world won’t get better unless we make it better. Life is the question, love is the answer.
On my 72nd birthday I added: Down the road, the most difficult person to forgive may be yourself. Every person would do better if they knew better; mistakes are the way we learn. Forgive yourself. Let the past rest in the past. Don’t go against yourself. Listen to that part of you that Knows–hush! Listen inside. To be right all the time is to make someone else wrong; best to state things as your opinion as the winds of time may change those thoughts and feelings. Hear the scream for help in a child’s (or adult’s) misbehaving–what is needed that is worth being in trouble all the time? Life still is the question and LOVE still is the answer.
10/03/14: On my73rd birthday: What if everything you thought to be true isn’t true? What if we only have pieces of the truth and the rest is a grand stage play in which actors play their parts convincingly? What is real? What is true? I believe that life is the question and love is the answer. If an action or a part in the great play doesn’t come from love, it isn’t real. Love isn’t letting someone walk over you with their criticisms or judgments. Love isn’t comparing yourself to someone else and never feeling good enough. Love isn’t getting even, holding grudges or failing to accept someone as they are. Love isn’t being filled with fear, anxiety or envy; it is cherishing your uniqueness and sharing your light without hesitation or concern. The love of God is unending and non-selective for we are each a child of this great Light. Our love for God needs to be consistent for it is in that connection we become a part of all there is, and our potential is limitless. I have learned to love God, love my neighbors and to love myself. What you do with your life is your journey—and I sincerely bless each day.
