“For every ailment under the sun,
There is a remedy, or there is none,
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.”
-Mother Goose
Month: July 2017
Back to Basics
The last month and a half has been challenging for me. I traveled to Greece for two weeks, which disrupted my usual routines, though I still managed to do some meditating and blogging while I was there. Then my dad was hospitalized and died, and for a while it seemed nearly impossible to focus on anything else. I still think about my dad constantly, and my mom and I are doing our best to figure out this new normal. To top it off, I am pregnant with my first child, making me both excited and exhausted. Simple tasks like eating and exercising have become much more difficult than they once were.
Quote of the Week
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
-Viktor E. Frankl
Hand-lettered design available from ContempCalligraphy on Etsy
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
End-of-Life Lessons From My Dad
When I was a kid, my dad was what today we might call my lead parent. My mom was involved in my life too, but she often worked 60 hours a week and sometimes had to travel for work. My dad’s work day ended at 3:00, and he had a little more flexibility in terms of taking time off, so he was the one who picked me up from day care, took me to my first day of kindergarten, and attended school events. I spent a good bit of time with him when I was young, and he taught me many of life’s essential early lessons.
I sometimes took my dad for granted in my adolescent years, as teens often do. He went through some hard times and battled some demons, and I didn’t always understand or appreciate him. When I was in 11th grade, and again during my first year of college, he was hospitalized with serious health issues. These brushes with death transformed my dad and my relationship with him, and I’m especially grateful for the person he became and the times we spent together over the past 15 years.
Quote of the Week
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
-Helen Keller
(Thanks, Kristin.)
Ring available from ThomasBrothers on Etsy
