My Practically Perfect Life

What’s that saying? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well…in that retrospect I could fill my pond with lemonade! I’m not saying that’s a bad thing by any means! I just mean that I have had to face a few obstacles. But with every bump in the road I have gotten through and always for the better. With every challenge I have learned a lesson. With every rough spot or heart breaking thing that has occurred in my life, I have come out happier and feeling better.

So we started out with that beauty of a quote…how about this? New year, new me. I have never understood why people cling to this mentality. Maybe it’s because my brain thinks a year is starts in August like a school year! Either way, I cringe when people say this. Why? Why do you have to wait for January 1st to change yourself? What’s wrong with a Tuesday? Why not wake up and realize what changes you need to make for yourself and just do it? This thought process is the ultimate “I’ll start my diet on Monday”. When people say that, I know they will fail. Because when you have to plan to change, that means you aren’t 100% ready. Change happens in an instant. It’s ordering a salad instead of a chicken fried steak. It’s throwing out that can of snuff and never buying more. It’s sometimes hitting rock bottom and knowing you have no other choice but to change. Change can happen in an instant, but it is a process. You have to come up with the idea, make that decision in your mind, and then the physical act of actually changing.

Change…is hard. Some things are easy, deciding to wear contacts instead of glasses, that would be an easy change. Stop procrastinating when you have done that your whole life…that’s a difficult change. Difficult though, not impossible. That’s a personal change that I have been struggling with. I have moments of awesomeness where nothing is put off. And then I have days that I don’t even realize I am procrastinating. That doesn’t mean the changes haven’t started, it just means my brain hasn’t been reprogrammed 100%. But I am trying. And that’s all anyone can do. Whether you make changes for yourself, or someone else, determination is the thing you have to have. I will never stop trying to make these changes, and when you make the decision to make changes, you can’t give up either.

One more “saying” I’m going to throw out there that has really stuck in my head lately is this. Deal with the faults of others as gently as your own. I am going to get real personal here. This has resonated with me because I struggle with it. Yes, part of me wishes those around me would deal with my faults a little better. But I do have a hard time sometimes putting myself in someone else’s shoes. I know I need to be better about empathizing and trying to understand someone’s reasons for their faults. And I know this because I have been on the other side. It hurts when someone doesn’t stop to listen or take into account the why’s of your faults. And I believe life would be better if we all took the time to try. It’s the golden rule, treat others as you would like them to treat you. Oh what a kind world we would live in if we all lived by that rule.

Not all old sayings are bad. Some are silly, but they all have a wonderful way of making you see things in a different light. So here are a few gems to start your thinking! Enjoy!

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how”

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat forever”

“However long the night, the dawn will break”

“Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile”

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often”