Posts by Pat:
Choosing your adventure…
Did you ever read one of the Choose Your Own Adventure books growing up? There were 250 million copies of books in that series sold in the 80’s and 90’s!
They came about after the creator ran out of bedtime stories to tell his daughters, so he asked them what they thought the protagonist should do next. He would then continue the story based on their choices.
So…you’re a kid going on vacation and suddenly find yourself kidnapped. One wrong move and you could be hurt. Will you choose to go to page 8 or to page 14?
Writing a book can be challenging, but one that has multiple endings must be more difficult! Though each book starts with the same pattern, they each offered many options for the reader to choose from when it came to how the story would end.
If you read one of those books back in the day, did you do what I did? Did you almost certainly cheat by keeping your thumb between the pages, just in case you made the wrong choice?
Maybe it’s something like our lives?
We start out on page 1 and then, throughout our days, we make choices- choices that bend our paths in different directions.
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” is a poignant reminder that one choice will lead to another. And in most cases, we find that keeping our thumb between the pages in order to go back doesn’t really work.
So maybe we can’t turn the pages back, but we can make new choices and one new choice might just be to reframe our past choices. After all, those choices (disastrous or immature as they may have been) have enabled us to become who we are today.
- Our current strengths,
- our hard-purchased wisdom, and
- our renewed appreciation of life with all its blessings
are the consequences of those choices.
I believe we can grow and learn from each choice and each consequence. And be the better for them.
After all, we are doing the best we know how, with what we know now. And when we know better, we will do better.
Right?
See the humor?
I firmly believe it is better to laugh than to cry and so here is what I have found! See if any of these tickle your funny bone… New proverbs to be included in the English language: “Homestay is the best policy!” “Rome wasn’t infected in a day.” “When the cough is away, you can […]
Nice or Kind?
What is the difference between being nice and being kind? At first glance it’s hard to tell. We often use them interchangeably when describing people. A “nice person” will hold the door for others, but so does a “kind person.” If the underlying motivation for holding the door for others is to create a favorable […]
Some favorite thoughts…
Maybe it’s my English teacher background or maybe it’s my bookstore owner background or maybe I’m just quirky, but I love collecting thoughts shared by others! I’m sharing some with you today to see which ones you like best. So…which of these 6 resonates most with you? “If the only tool you have is a […]
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My..!
Remember in the movie The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man entered the scary forest as they followed the yellow brick road? As they entered the gloomy forest they discussed their fears, culminating in the catchy “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!” Just as in the Biblical story of […]
Simple is surprisingly good
Many of the reasons we fail to find elegant solutions to problems are self-inflicted. We overthink a problem, or jump to conclusions, or decide after a few moments that we have a solid B-minus answer and are ready to move on. And so we miss the simplest, cheapest, least-intrusive, most effective changes we can make. […]
Ramblings as an “elder”
Some people try to turn back their “odometers.” Not me. I want people to know why I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren’t paved! Why is the easiest way to find something lost around the house is to go out and buy a replacement? Did you ever […]
Words can steal, heal, reveal
Words that Steal Stealing someone’s joy hurts them as deeply as stealing their physical possessions. When we say something unkind to others, we are stealing their self-esteem. When we interrupt others and “steal” their punch line, we’re taking away their joy of sharing humor. And has anyone ever told you “who did it” when you’ve […]
Once upon a time…
Once upon a time, there was a king who had gone to visit his neighboring kingdoms. He was gifted a pair of baby Macaw Parrots by one of the kings. They were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. So upon returning to his kingdom, he called for a bird trainer and asked him […]
I can’t. I’m Grounded!
Does that message ring a bell with any of the rest of you? When I was growing up, getting grounded meant that I wasn’t allowed to do the things that I valued most at the time. These days, I often feel called to ground myself when I feel like I need to take a break […]