Friday, June 6, 2014

A little help from my friends...

I seriously doubt that I have ever been at risk of this; nevertheless, I really love this quote. Some people get intimidated or frustrated or defensive or just plain mean when in the midst of impressive people. I have learned to appreciate it (somewhat out of necessity...such is life when your friends tend to be amazingly handy, creative, well-read and intelligent). We should all put ourselves around people who make us want to be better. 

Thank you to all of you who do just that. 
***
As I mentioned in the last post, I asked several women in my life to answer the same questions related to fulfillment and expectations that I posed to myself. Since that time, I also decided to send the same questions to several male friends/family who I thought might be willing in contribute. I figured it would be interesting to see if males and females responded significantly differently.

Regardless of gender, the first received responses, as suspected, have already proven testament to my "find a comfy chair and stay put" room status.  
***
I taught next-door to Jackie Rogers at Pulaski County High School from 2004-2006. Even though I haven't kept in touch with Jackie much over the years, I'll never forget how much I enjoyed being around her. She was one of the wittiest people I had ever been around (and about the only person I knew who could so easily trade quips with Scott), the students loved her, and the staff and parents respected her.  If you were a kid, you wanted to have her in class; if you were a teacher, you wanted to have my classroom so you could crack jokes with her in the hallway and eat lunch together. 

"One of my best friends and I like to get away in the fall for a quiet week on the beach. We pack several books, drums of sunscreen, versatile outfits and lots of shoes. If it rains, we sit on our balcony with coffee and say, “bring it on.” If dolphins come close to the shore, we nod with casual interest like we have one at home. If a shark joins us in the water, we crap our skirted bathing suits full. It isn’t that we are uber cool, we don’t even use the word “uber”, it is just that we have become comfortable. We’ve settled into our 40s and are wearing it around like yoga pants.

Last year on our first morning in the condo, coffee in hand, sunrise on the water, making plans for supper in about 12 hours; I rubbed the dull ache in the middle of my forehead.  I told my friend, who was as content as I to sit silently together or laugh like sorority girls, that I hoped the headache would go away before we made our way to our pre-paid, umbrella covered chairs. She informed me that it would go away in 24 hours. “You’ve got an old woman headache,” she informed me.

Old woman headache. Now that was new to me. She explained to me that people “my age” start getting these perimenopause headaches and it would get worse. Being four years older, I am benefitting from her misfortune of going first. “Why didn’t old women tell us about this?” I asked her.

“They tried,” she said.

And then we laughed. Everything is much funnier after 40. By “after” I mean the moment you wake up on your 40th birthday. You’ve spent the last decade scoffing at the hundreds of people who comment on how you will suddenly not be able to read or how your body parts will give in to gravity. It seems so cliche, until you wake up the morning of your 40th birthday and wonder why you can’t make out the expiration date on the milk. For several months you blame it on the lighting, but finally you buy a value pack of readers and start wearing them on top of your head.

At this point, I embraced it. I wasn’t in this alone and I wasn’t the first to watch my 20s and 30s slip away. When I reflect on those years, they were fun but too full of competition and struggle and self-doubt. If I could pinpoint the moment I let that go, it would be when I saw this quote that seems to be floating around a lot on social media “Girls compete with each other. Women empower one another.” I didn’t have it tattooed on my foot, rather I burned it in my heart. The more I give, the fuller my life becomes. “Cast your bread on the waters,” the Bible says, “and after many days it will return to you.”'
*** 
Since most of you who read this are from Cumberland County, you likely know Barbara Booher. Even though I went to school with her son, David, it wasn't until I took the job at the library that I realized what a wonderful person this woman is. The library, our kids, and the community in general are truly lucky to have her. I promise you, you won't find many people with a bigger heart. 
  
1. Do you consciously resolve to be a better/happier woman? How do you do this? 
I really don't consciously think about what would make me happier.  I might realize that I need to make a change of some kind in order to function better. But, I have discovered that I have a personality that needs to be "helping or giving" to someone in order to feel fulfilled or "happy".  I find true joy in doing for others.   I have also learned that people aren't fooled.  I must be real and sincere in what I do.

2. What advice would you give to someone in regard to creating/inspiring a fulfilled life? 
My advice is to know exactly what your priorities are and make your decisions accordingly.   Don't get caught up in "busyness".  It will rob you of your energy, time and your peace of mind. I know that my relationship with my God comes first, my family second, and then anything else in my life.   I also know the importance of respecting the fact that people have different priorities.

3. What lesson have you learned the hard way? 
I learned the hard way that I can't do it all, I can't fix it all and that I can't be everything for everybody.    But I can do my part.

4. If you wrote one quote on your bathroom mirror, what would it be? 
There is a plaque in my house that says "Be Kind, Be Wise, Be True".  I think of it as a revision of the Bible verse that says "Finally, be ye all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humble minded." 1 Peter 3:8

5. If you had one piece of advice for your daughter/best friend/[any other woman of significance in your life], what would it be?  
My advice is to always stay focused on what is important....and the importance of passing on the values you have been taught to others around you through your actions and words.
***
Jim Brady is probably one of the most interesting people I have ever met: father, author, wine maker, explorer, philosopher, animal-lover, jack-of-all-trades, [insert about anything else you can think of]. There are so many little nuggets of wisdom in his response....even if for some reason he did capitalize the entire thing.;)

LIZA’S  5 QUESTIONS  IN HER QUEST FOR A FULFILLED LIFE…
1) STRIVE TO BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF YOU CAN BE, CONTINUALLY, AND REGARDLESS OF OTHERS’ THOUGHTS OR VIEWS ON HOW YOU PLAN ON SUCCEEDING.YOU WILL FIND RESISTANCE ALONG THE WAY DUE TO THE FACT THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST INDECISIVE ABOUT THEIR OWN WELL BEING AND WILL RESENT THAT YOU ACTUALLY GIVE A SHIT. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IF THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR REASONING, KEEP MOVING FORWARD, AND IF YOU INFLUENCE THEM EVEN A LITTLE, ALL THE BETTER; IF NOT… IT’S NOTHING PERSONAL.

2) DON’T LIVE IN A BOX. OPINIONS OF IDEAL LIVING PROBABLY DON’T AMOUNT TO MUCH IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. WHEN YOU STEP OUT INTO THE REAL WORLD YOU REALIZE THAT MOST OF HUMANITY IS HAMPERED BY THEIR OWN STRUGGLES WITH HUMANITY. WE ALL LIVE IN THE SAME WORLD. DON’T BE AFRAID TO MAKE BIG DECISIONS IF YOU WANT THINGS TO BE DIFFERENT. YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO HURT PEOPLES FEELINGS AND TURN PAGES; IT’S ONLY THEN, THAT YOU CAN REACH THE NEXT CHAPTER. SOMETIMES A FRESH START CAN REKINDLE OUR CREATIVITY.

3) NEVER CONTINUE DOWN A PATH WHICH THE AMOUNT OF HAPPINESS AND JOY IS EXCEEDED BY SADNESS AND MISERY. IT’S OK TO HAVE EXPECTATIONS THAT SOMETIMES FALL SHORT. DON'T BE AFRAID TO WALK AWAY.

4) WHAT YOU BELIEVE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE…PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

5) LIFE IS WHAT IT IS. GOOD, BAD OR INDIFFERENT…LIFE ISN'T FOCUSED ON YOUR RESULT. GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD PEOPLE, BAD HAPPEN TO GOOD. THE SOONER YOU TAKE YOU OUT OF THE EQUATION, THE HAPPIER, AND THE MORE RESILIENT TO DISAPPOINTMENTS, YOU WILL BE. THIS WILL NOT MAKE YOU IMPERVIOUS TO THEM, JUST MORE AWARE THAT IT ISN’T ANYONE’S FAULT, IT JUST IS, WHAT IT IS. SOME LIVE, SOME DIE. SOME LAUGH, SOME CRY.   

6) ALWAYS GO TO BED WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE KNOWING YOU PUT IT OUT THERE AS HONESTLY AS YOU COULD, WITH THE CONFIDENCE YOU DID THE BEST YOU COULD IN THE GIVEN SITUATION. YOU WILL BE MISUNDERSTOOD AT TIMES, BUT IN THE END YOUR INTENTION WILL BE TRUE AND YOUR PILLOW WILL BE SOFTER.

2 comments:

  1. That's quite the compliment coming from you Liza, although it can equally be said of you :) thank you.. see I even unpunched my caps lock lol

    ReplyDelete