Dear Life,
let me begin by saying thank you. I appreciate you supporting me over the past forty-six years. I have had some joys and pains, some celebrations and some regrets, but all in all, I have enjoyed the journey thus far. I thought I would have passed from here by the age of forty, but, six years after reaching that milestone, I am still going strong. Although I was a little puzzled and surprized, I am stilll nonetheless grateful. Since I am still living, I have made a decision to continue living and to live well. My confidence and appearance have improved since I have come to realize I am worthy of you. I am less intimidated by the haters and the people who are so full of themselves that they think they are more worthy of you than others are. Most days I still struggle a little in the confidence area, but I am sure of the fact that you and I are supposed to be together for a lot longer. My first set of life goals were callibrated to the age of forty.
Now that I have surpassed that goal, I have, of necessity, to set a new marker for you to carry me to. I have decided that aiming for another sixty years is not greedy or excessive, but that it makes perfectly good sense. In the event that I live past 100 years, I already have my heart set on at least twenty more beyond that goal. You know, life, I have come to love you. I used to believe I had to look forward to giving you up. Now I am convinced that that idea is disrespectful to both you and to me. I want to embrace you more fully and during my next sixty to eighty years, I want to focus on simultaneously encouraging others to do the same. Afterall, you have a lot to offer. You are filled with a lot of challenges, but you also offer a lot of beauty and fulfillment. You are gracious in your ability to carry us through hard times and also to bring us around to realize how much we have to appreciate day after day.
Now, maybe I will experience more pain in the second part of our relationship than I did in the first portion, but I believe it will be to my benefit. I have a tremendous amount of wonderful placid memories from part one to support me through part two. I gotta admit: Part one was a blast and may be hard to top, but I believe you have enough creativity to outlast me and everyone I love. So again Life, thank you.
This time, thank you in advance for preparing me to live longer and stronger than I ever have before and thanks for all the beautiful companions and experiences that have filled part one and that will decorate and fill part two. I love you.
Sincerely,
Judy Witherspoon - Sunday 3/25/2012 4:15pm
Here is my best advice to myself and all those who choose to join me on the path to self improvement.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Live and never apologize for it.
Living is what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to live life to the fullest. Each day we should enjoy our life and do what we can to support others in enjoying their lives as well. Sometimes it is necessary for us to spend time alone so that we can really savor the moments of well being in our day. At other times, we are enhanced by the company of other people.
Regardless of our choice over spending time alone or with others, we have a human obligation to really take care of ourselves. When we are given to generosity and hospitality, we will extend ourselves to help others in life. We must, however, be careful not to replace our personal care with trying to do for other people what they are capable of doing for themselves.
It is good, for example, for us to lend a hand to a friend with daily chores. We must be sure, though, that our daily chores are not overlooked or neglected or we will be found wanting and ashamed. If we are so inclined to share our resources, it is fine for us to do so, but never to take what we need for ourselves and our family to give away for the comfort of others who sometimes have more than we do.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to feel sorry for another person. The reason I say this is because when we pitty others, we run the risk of taking away their dignity and depriving ourselves of something that would be better used in our own benefit. The best thing for us to do when we perceive a need in someone else is to assess whether or not we have covered our personal responsibilities and then consider whether or not the other person's need is worthy of our resources. Sometimes the best help we can give is to stand apart and leave place for the person to gain strength or avail themselves to resources from another supplier.
Having grown up in a Christian household, I have been predisposed to asking the question, "How can I help?" That is a fine question upon which to base one's approach to life. What we must caution against is leaving ourselves out when asking the question. Daily we must raise to ourselves the question, "How can I help myself today?" We must then see to it that we are well cared for and prepared to go out for service to others.
Self care and personal preparation is essential to healthy living. Living well is started off with paying attention to yourself and making sure that you meet your own needs and the needs of those you are responsible for. Serving others sometimes makes them shirk personal responsibility. When others are able to do for themselves they should do as much as they are able to do. New Living calls for remembering to take personal responsibility first.
Regardless of our choice over spending time alone or with others, we have a human obligation to really take care of ourselves. When we are given to generosity and hospitality, we will extend ourselves to help others in life. We must, however, be careful not to replace our personal care with trying to do for other people what they are capable of doing for themselves.
It is good, for example, for us to lend a hand to a friend with daily chores. We must be sure, though, that our daily chores are not overlooked or neglected or we will be found wanting and ashamed. If we are so inclined to share our resources, it is fine for us to do so, but never to take what we need for ourselves and our family to give away for the comfort of others who sometimes have more than we do.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to feel sorry for another person. The reason I say this is because when we pitty others, we run the risk of taking away their dignity and depriving ourselves of something that would be better used in our own benefit. The best thing for us to do when we perceive a need in someone else is to assess whether or not we have covered our personal responsibilities and then consider whether or not the other person's need is worthy of our resources. Sometimes the best help we can give is to stand apart and leave place for the person to gain strength or avail themselves to resources from another supplier.
Having grown up in a Christian household, I have been predisposed to asking the question, "How can I help?" That is a fine question upon which to base one's approach to life. What we must caution against is leaving ourselves out when asking the question. Daily we must raise to ourselves the question, "How can I help myself today?" We must then see to it that we are well cared for and prepared to go out for service to others.
Self care and personal preparation is essential to healthy living. Living well is started off with paying attention to yourself and making sure that you meet your own needs and the needs of those you are responsible for. Serving others sometimes makes them shirk personal responsibility. When others are able to do for themselves they should do as much as they are able to do. New Living calls for remembering to take personal responsibility first.
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