"You are not your circumstances. You are your possibilities. If you know that, you can do anything."
~Oprah Winfrey~
~Oprah Winfrey~
I absolutely love a New Year! I compare it to the quintessential Monday diet, but on a much grander scale, in that, we are not afforded fifty-two Monday's, but rather one lousy chance per year to "get it right." As I headed out from Georgia to Colorado on New Year's Day, I began getting my resolutions in order; crossing all my T's and dotting all my I's, as in, "I" promise to do this and "I" promise to do that! Thus begins the journey down the path paved with the best of intentions and the most righteous resolutions. I have chanted the same mantra every year since 1980...."This is YOUR year, Robin!" Yada, yada, yada. And make no mistake, it always is "my year" right up until about the 15th of January, that is. Big sigh!
Somehow I just feel differently about 2009. I am older, boy am I older, and far more wiser. With that being said, perhaps 2020 will be "my year," as in "hindsight is 2020." I will be a few months from age 60, probably about to give birth to my third child. I seem to have a child every 20 years and have dubbed it "Robinetics," the ability to make life much harder than it was meant to be. :0) God, I am like some sort of prehistoric animal that you would think would be extinct by now. I am referring to the "dumb blonde." Do you think there is an exhibit at the Smithsonian yet? I am changing my drivers license to read, "Dumb Blonde Donor." In the case of death, please forward (good hair day only) worn out shell to Smithsonian.
Aside from resolving to be a better mother, friend, and human being, good health is going to be a priority for 2009. I am vowing to stress less and laugh more. And trust me when I tell you, I am my own dinner and a show. Front row tickets anyone? Oooops, sorry, already SOLD OUT! Do I care that I have friends who will laugh at me instead of with me? Not on your life! If I can't set a good example at least I can be a horrible warning. I have certainly given new meaning to the phrase, "Do as I say, NOT as I do!" I preach it to my children on a daily basis...at least to the one that calls me!! I won't mention any names, but he still lives with me.
I studied hard preparing for 2009. I read a plethora of books that promised to "show me the way," and point me in the right direction, if you will. Yeah, that's not working for me. I am completely "zenned" out and my ying is butting up against my yang. Is life really that complex? No, of course it isn't! I finally found the answer in the last book I picked up, not for $19.95 at Barnes and Noble, but . 25 at a garage sale. The book was titled "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten." The title piqued my curiosity and I happened to have a quarter in my pocket (and yes, I'm glad to see you). The book turned out to be worth its weight in gold. The author, Robert Fulghum, a genius in his own right, imparts his Credo, as follows:
"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:
Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup-they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned-the biggest word of all-LOOK." Amen, Mr. Fulghum
So there you have it people. Life is your value meal; BIGGIE SIZE IT!! Have a glorious New Year. Be safe, be healthy, be wise and be yourself, you are the only one that you have to spend the rest of your life with.
Peace Out!
The Paper Whisperer
Somehow I just feel differently about 2009. I am older, boy am I older, and far more wiser. With that being said, perhaps 2020 will be "my year," as in "hindsight is 2020." I will be a few months from age 60, probably about to give birth to my third child. I seem to have a child every 20 years and have dubbed it "Robinetics," the ability to make life much harder than it was meant to be. :0) God, I am like some sort of prehistoric animal that you would think would be extinct by now. I am referring to the "dumb blonde." Do you think there is an exhibit at the Smithsonian yet? I am changing my drivers license to read, "Dumb Blonde Donor." In the case of death, please forward (good hair day only) worn out shell to Smithsonian.
Aside from resolving to be a better mother, friend, and human being, good health is going to be a priority for 2009. I am vowing to stress less and laugh more. And trust me when I tell you, I am my own dinner and a show. Front row tickets anyone? Oooops, sorry, already SOLD OUT! Do I care that I have friends who will laugh at me instead of with me? Not on your life! If I can't set a good example at least I can be a horrible warning. I have certainly given new meaning to the phrase, "Do as I say, NOT as I do!" I preach it to my children on a daily basis...at least to the one that calls me!! I won't mention any names, but he still lives with me.
I studied hard preparing for 2009. I read a plethora of books that promised to "show me the way," and point me in the right direction, if you will. Yeah, that's not working for me. I am completely "zenned" out and my ying is butting up against my yang. Is life really that complex? No, of course it isn't! I finally found the answer in the last book I picked up, not for $19.95 at Barnes and Noble, but . 25 at a garage sale. The book was titled "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten." The title piqued my curiosity and I happened to have a quarter in my pocket (and yes, I'm glad to see you). The book turned out to be worth its weight in gold. The author, Robert Fulghum, a genius in his own right, imparts his Credo, as follows:
"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:
Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup-they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned-the biggest word of all-LOOK." Amen, Mr. Fulghum
So there you have it people. Life is your value meal; BIGGIE SIZE IT!! Have a glorious New Year. Be safe, be healthy, be wise and be yourself, you are the only one that you have to spend the rest of your life with.
Peace Out!
The Paper Whisperer
