Quotes for Life

I think you hit the nail right on the head Andy. As life goes on, we change. That's a fact of life that we would all be better off to recognize and accept. I think many people have a difficult time evolving/growing/changing when everything else in thier life is the status quo. Maybe we need to part from people who know us so well so that we may reinvent ourselves a bit. I know i've had to do that several times. The really special thing about a good friend is that they are there for you when the time comes to reunite. With no grudges or hard feelings about the time you spent away. That is how you know you have a truly special friend.

I'm reminded as I type this of people in my life that have come and gone that I will most likely never be close with again. I find it interesting that these are the "friends" that seemed most resistant to change. Or could you just call them stubborn? They got stuck in one phase of life and think anyone that goes off and changes themself is no longer friend material. The world would be such a better place if everyone could just open their hearts and their minds to the ever changing ebb and flow of life. To borrow a favorite quote of mine: "Life is a journey, not a destination. Love like you've never been hurt, work like you don't need money, and dance like nobody's watching." Changing the subject a bit here but alas, that is how my crazy mind works and probably how we mean for this blog to work as well. Anyhow .... what I was thinking of is the first sentence of that quote along with another. First let me share the other quote and where it came from and then I will get back to where I was going. (here you will see why Andy is such a better writer than I ... I write like my mind thinks ... he is so much more eloquent)

It was the end of the Spring '99 semester and my parents were getting divorced. There were issues at home that I had to attend to so I asked my Finite Element Methods professor (Dr. Vu-Quoc) if I could speak with him after class. We had a test planned on a day that my family needed me to be home. I asked him if I could take the test either before I left or after I got back. He said he wanted to talk to me first so we stepped outside. He said he could tell my mind had been elsewhere and that I looked a bit stressed. I thought this a bit odd because he was a professor with a very strong accent who had a difficult time getting through to the class. I was very surprised to find him so in tune with me. He told me he didn't care much about the test. He just wanted to share something with me. In his infinite wisdom he said "Live in the present for it is a present". I will remember that day for the rest of my life. I still remember right where we were standing outside the aerospace building at UF.

I have always struggled to maintain balance in my life. Someone once asked me if I were to write a book about life what would I call it? My answer: "The Search for Balance". I tend to let stressful situations invade every aspect of my life. I have always struggled with this. Then I remember the two quotes I shared above and I attempt to once again recenter myself. As my "journey" continues I find myself getting much better at this. What I really wanted to share here is this ... relish the moment you are living in because you never know when it may be your last. You can't take all that money or all those bills with you when you die. Okay, the side of me that wants to be ever prepared is telling me that you need to make sure your affairs are taken care of when you pass so that your relatives aren't left with a mess. This is true but beyond that, don't let that bill you can't pay yet or that test you haven't passed yet or that closet you haven't organized yet invade your brain and keep you from enjoying the moment you are in right now. It is so easy get stuck living for the future or living in the past. In doing so you are wasting the gift of the present. I struggle with allowing myself to have fun because there are so many things that "need to be done" ... or so I think. As a parent and a stay-at-home, work-at-home, all-around-trying-to-be-a-supermom type of person I find it a constant challenge to allow myself a few minutes every day just to enjoy the moment. To make my baby laugh, to help my two-year-old build something with his building blocks, to snuggle with my husband, to play fetch with my dogs ... and the list could go on and on. I shouldn't be thinking about that closet that I still haven't organized while i'm sitting on the floor playing with my baby ... but I do. Do you struggle with this? That closet isn't coming with me when I die but hopefully the spirit of the relationship I have with my children and husband will live forever.

These are the things i've been working on lately. Just trying to allow myself to enjoy life because I really think that's the point. I've struggled a lot with this because I lived for so long working towards "what a wanted to be when I grew up". And i'm proud to say I did that. I was an Aerospace Engineer at NASA ... but now i'm a wife and mom and i'm loving every minute of it ... when I allow myself to, that is. I'm working on letting go of the past and enjoying the present. I'm working on allowing myself to enjoy life and not stress about all the little things like money and that closet I keep mentioning. This leads my mind to another topic that i'll save for a later post ... i'll just hint that it has to do with people associating us with what we are instead of who we are. I made a major change in "what" i am a few years ago and it is very interesting to watch the reactions of everyone around me to that change. But before I digress into that ...

I've been on a Serenity Prayer kick here lately. A very dear friend of mine reminded me of it recently and it really stuck. Since my conversation with her that day I have probably recited it to myself at least ten times. So I will close by sharing it with you ...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."