Quote of the Day: “Have patience with all things, but chiefly with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them- every day begin the task anew.” Saint Francis de Sales
Exercise Log: Went 5.45 (+.35) with Susie and Jen, we walked up to the Neff’s Canyon trailhead and then onto a narrow trail. In many places, the water was overcoming the banks and we finally came to a place where we couldn’t cross so we headed up to the main trail. My sister, Jen, will be having a busy summer driving her girls to their many activities so she may be joining us for morning walks! 6 A.M. comes early but the morning is so beautiful with the sun coming over the peaks of Mount Olympus. I have never regretted getting up early to experience the morning.
I went to lunch with Jennifer Merkley. She and I are both carriers of the BRCA 1 gene. She is finished with radiation, has one surgery left and then will be through with her treatment. Her hair is growing back and looks darling short. She has eye brows and eye lashes and looks fabulous. She gave me a gift of berries, granola and yogurt. Delicious!
I am listening to the book Cutting for Stone, liking it very much and was pondering something I heard yesterday. While Marion’s father was in prison, the men would tell stories at night. One of the stories told was an African fable about slippers. The story goes something like this. There is a merchant who held onto his battered slippers and eventually couldn’t stomach the site of them. He threw then out the window and they landed on the head of a pregnant woman and so he was sent to jail. Next, he tried to get rid of them by throwing them into a drain where they clogged up everything and again he was sent to jail. Finally, someone suggested that he build a special room for the slippers and that person died in his sleep. The author goes on to say through the characters that “The slippers mean that everything you do or see or touch, every seed you sow or don’t sow becomes part of your destiny.” You have to admit that the slippers are yours and then they will get rid of themselves. The moral of the story is this: the key to happiness is to own your own slippers- translation: if it’s your problems, talents, family or whatever happens to you in life, you have to be reconciled that those are your issues otherwise you can become bitter.
So here is what I got out of this. I have to own this problem and stop waking up surprised that this is my life. I have to own this problem and deal with it and not feel that I’m being punished or picked on or a victim because my life took a road I didn’t see coming and certainly didn’t wish for. Instead, I have to acknowledge why this part of my life is necessary for my growth and be comfortable or ok with it. It’s interesting to contemplate how many areas of our lives we don’t or won’t acknowledge. Maybe we just don’t want to believe that it makes up our character and is part of our destiny. But really, all of our past experiences make up who we are. We choose to allow our experiences to make us more compassionate and understanding towards others or not. We choose to embrace our difficult times or suffering and thereby get growth or hid what is really us and pretend it’s not happening.
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