life · past · present · whatever!

Monday musings…

Contentment is accepting the world
as an imperfect place.
Anonymous

I wasn’t always content, far from it. There was more to my discontent than the usual stuff of being a teenager, and it got worse with time. As a young woman and into middle age, I was unhappy most of the time. It just became the norm for me.

Somewhere around 50 years, I got tired of the life I was living. I decided to make some changes, but I didn’t know quite what they would be. So, for a time, I went to a psychologist. Best thing I ever did!

I learned a lot about myself and how I looked at life and living. The biggest thing I learned was how often I said or thought, “I should.” Why did I think “I should” do something or be something, feel or want to be different in some way? I was always trying to be who or what I thought others expected or wanted me to be. The whole experience of being in counseling was eye-opening. It was difficult, and it hurt. There were lots of tears. Oh, and there was laughter, too. I’m a pretty funny person. I thought that was a bad thing. There wasn’t a lot of laughter in our house when I was growing up.

Anyway, when I came to my 50th birthday, I decided I would be who I am. I would just be me, whoever and whatever that was. I likened it to being a butterfly. I was leaving the cocoon and would be the real me. Another best thing I ever did!

Do you know what I found out when I left the cocoon? I am a curious, daydreaming, intelligent introvert with a good sense of humor. Some people like me, some don’t, and that’s okay.

The most important lesson I learned is that I don’t have to be what others want me to be or who they think I ought to be. I am who I am, the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly. Deal with it or go and bother somebody else with your idealistic nonsense.

Oh, by the way on my 50th birthday, I got a tattoo.
It’s a butterfly just out of the cocoon and beginning to fly.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Celebrate the Small Things · whatever!

2016, it’s about gone…

birthday-1114056_640

Today I am celebrating that 2016 is about gone!
It wasn’t a bad year but it was challenging.
My word for 2016 was change and there was a lot of change.
Change is not my favorite thing. I am happy in my comfortable ruts.
None of the changes were spectacular.
It was all about inner changes.
Things like attitudes and habits that needed to be looked at.
Some things just needed to be brought out, dusted off and put to use again.
There was a lot of decluttering of thoughts to take care of.
And there were things that needed some serious housekeeping or tossing out.

cat-1547112_640

My inner life is much like my home.
It’s comfortable and homey with things I use and things I love,
things I don’t need and things I don’t want but
keep because I am too lazy to deal with them.
Everything looks good until I take a good look in closets and corners, and
under things I need to get on my hands and knees to see or on top of things I can’t see without getting on a stool or ladder.
So that’s what I did in 2016 and it was hard work and humbling.
There is still work to be done but most of the trash has been dealt with.
Now the really hard part…keeping it all clean and tidy.

celebrate
Click here to see what others are celebrating.

In Other Words (Quotes) · someone said · Uncategorized

Change…

“Not everything that is faced can be changed,
but nothing can be changed until faced.”

James Baldwin

swallowtail-butterfly-329086_640

If you were a caterpillar and made your cocoon
in time, you would emerge as a butterfly.
You would never be an eagle or dolphin, a cat or elephant.
No matter how hard you tried to change the fact is,
you will be a butterfly.
Some things can’t be changed.

So it is with people.
You grow in your mother’s womb and in time
you emerge as a little person with DNA that is unique to you.
The color of your skin and eyes, the shape of your hands and feet,
the color and texture of your hair, whether you will be short or tall,
no matter how hard you try the fact is, this is what you will be.
Some things can’t be changed.

You are also born with character and talents and gifts.
What you do with these attributes  determines who you will be.
Weaknesses can be strengthened, talents can be developed, gifts can be shared.
Good or bad, who you are is up to you.
Some things can be changed.

In Other Words
Click here to see what the quote inspired others to write.

In Other Words (Quotes) · someone said · Uncategorized

Not everything that…

In Other Words

“Not everything that is faced can be changed,
but nothing can be changed until faced.”
James Baldwin

Use the quote or the author as inspiration;
post a story…fiction or non-fiction,
a poem, a commentary, opinion or a picture.
Or use any word from the quote as a starting point.
Just write!
Somewhere in your post add a link to In Other Words.
Click on the blue frog below and add your link so others can visit you.
The link is open from Wednesday until the following Tuesday.

In Other Words (Quotes) · life · Six Sentence Stories · Uncategorized

Dreams-plans-change…

Today I am linking to In Other Words prompt
“Dreaming, afterall, is a form of planning.”
Gloria Steinem
and to Six Sentence Stories prompt
Change

lonely-273629_640

She worked long and hard to make her dream come true.  She had been unwilling to make any change in the plans and schedules that she made carefully and in detail every step of the way.  Many times she would cancel plans she made with friends and usually didn’t make it home for the holidays, birthdays or reunions. So often she broke dates with the man she loved and hoped to marry that one day he said goodbye and never came back. Everyone thought she was living the dream she worked so hard and sacrificed so much for all those years. But she knew the truth, she was living a nightmare of loneliness.

Image: pixabay

In Other Words
Click here to see what the prompt inspired others to write.

six
Click here to see what the prompt inspired others to write.

A to Z Challenge 2013 · opinion · Sunday · Uncategorized

Sunday, I changed my mind…

images (29)

A few minutes ago I wrote about my theme for the A to Z Challenge.
Well, I just wrote the “A” post and decided not to say anything about what I don’t like about people.
I mean really what value does negative thought have?
So, erase the earlier post and remember this one.

Today, I think I should think before I click on publish.