Do Not Run Faster

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Never give up, never give in. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. Keep your eye on the prize!

I know all these cheerleader terms of encouragement. I've been pushed along the way by parents, teachers, and my own self-inflicted goading. I've been surrounded by a goodly quantity of A personalities, and I've know what it tastes like having given myself a big dose of self-loathing if I didn't reach a goal for which I'd set my cap.

I have now reached an age where I often say phooey to a task I've set for myself. It's not that I'm lazy or unreliable, it's just that I've learned in my fifty some years of life that while accomplishment and crossing the finish line are important, sometimes saying no to a task, or being satisfied coming in twenty-fifth in a race is jolly good. In fact, it's liberating.

We wear ourselves out trying to please all of the people all of the time. I just don't do it anymore. I do the needful stuff, the important stuff, the genuinely loving stuff, but as for showing up for every this or that...nope...I don't. I even admit to taking a walk in the mountains instead of signing up to do centerpieces for a church barbecue. I'm older now. I've done my share of decorating, and I know there are others (younger others) who will gladly step into my shoe's of service.

I also have learned the serenity which comes from living one day at a time, and how much I look like a dog chasing my tail when I try to do too much.

I love the quote from Abraham Lincoln, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Yes! Just for today I will be happy. Happiness is from within--it is not a matter of externals.

Today I wish you serenity and happiness.