Quote of the Day -- Mary Kay Ash

I must admit, I never imagined that I would be quoting Mary Kay, but I like this:

There are four kinds of people in this world: 

• those who make things happen
• those who watch things happen
• those who wonder what happened
• those who don’t know that anything happened!

Quote of the Day -- from the Inside Scoop

I receive a weekly newsletter from Harriet Lewis, chair of Overseas Adventure Travel, a company that we often use for our adventures.  It's filled with interesting articles about destinations, and it's a great source of travel-related quotes that I often share. This particular quote isn't from anyone well-known, or even known at all, but just another traveler who wrote in...

Do not delay joy, education, and adventure. One must not become a servant of regrets, saying later: I should have, could have, would have, but did not.

Quote of the Day -- Eleanor Roosevelt

To be mature you have to realize what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them. They spend great effort and sometimes make great sacrifices for values that, fundamentally, meet no real needs of their own. Perhaps they have imbibed the values of their particular profession or job, of their community or their neighbors, of their parents or family. Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one’s own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for.

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

The Power of a Mantra

I learned the power of a mantra (as in repeated slogan or phrase) long before I contemplated the practice of yoga. Our youngest daughter was easily distracted, especially in her early elementary school years. So before school, when we were scrambling to get everyone out the door, one of us said very firmly (hopefully in a gentle, loving tone) "Christie, teeth and hair." Those were her main jobs and by boiling them down to this simple, oft-repeated phrase, we had a prayer that she would emerge from whatever was distracting her and get her tasks done.

A few years back, when I evolved from dabbling in yoga to become a regular practitioner, I searched for my own mantra. I was trying to stop my monkey brain from scattered thoughts when I should have been concentrating and focusing my mind. And for me, it was also about convincing myself that yoga is a personal practice and that it doesn't matter that someone else is more flexible or has better balance. So my early mantra was "Be present in the moment. This is not a competition."

Now, a half dozen years into my practice, I'm better at concentrating and emptying my mind. And I've given up the illusion that I'll ever be as flexible or well-balanced as other members of my yoga community. So now, a mantra becomes more like a theme for the week or the month. How can I boil my priorities down into a few words that I can repeat to myself periodically?  This month, my mantra is

Books. Blog. Body.

Notice I'm posting a little more regularly? Maybe this mantra thing has legs.

Quote of the Day -- Confusius

By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is bitterest.

-- Confusius

Quote of the Day -- H. L. Mencken

On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

-- H. L. Mencken, July 26, 1920, Baltimore Evening Sun

My Manifesto for a Full, Active Retirement

I may have mentioned a few times that I'm a Gretchen Rubin fan. I often feel guilty spending my reading / listening cycles focused on things that might make my life better and richer (instead of listening to the news), but I can only take so much (bad! depressing!) news. As part of the "know yourself better" theme, Gretchen advocates writing a manifesto about something. So I gave it a whirl last fall. So far, it seems to be withstanding the test of time... at least of 9 months of time. So here it is:

1 Savor the joys of being a grandparent. Strive to be a regular part of our grandchildren's lives on both ordinary days and special occasions.

2 Bask in the friendship, experiences, and challenges of our adult children and their partners. Provide appropriate support (time, money, advice) to make their lives easier.

3 Delight in my marriage and our good fortune that we have arrived at this stage of life with similar goals and interests.

4 Journey to as much of the world as possible, as a traveler, not a tourist.

5 Read, listen to, or watch something every day that stretches my mind.

6 Practice yoga regularly to keep my body and my mind flexible.

7 Move my body regularly doing things that I enjoy like a brisk walk in the sunshine.

8 Eat a healthy diet and maintain an acceptable weight. It's good for my quality of life and my mental well-being.

9 Achieve a balance between battling the effects of aging and accepting that I'm getting older.

10 Do meaningful volunteer work.

11 Nurture friendships.

12 Play the piano often.

13 Write regularly.



14 Be flexible and enjoy the opportunity to live without a rigid schedule or "to do" list.

15 Be structured enough so I don't fritter away my time on meaningless activities.

16 Treasure every day as a gift.

Quote of the Day -- Randall Jarrell

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.

-- Randall Jarrell, poet

Quote of the Day -- Diane Arbus

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.

-- Diane Arbus, photographer

Some People's Lives Just Seem More Interesting

Some people's lives just seem more interesting... I don't mean famous people or people who have amazing jobs that we all envy. I mean everyday people who just seem to have interesting and humorous encounters, fascinating ideas, quirky relatives, etc.

My mom used to tell the story of a woman who said to her, "Your kids are so amazing. They seem to say such funny things all the time." And my mom replied, "Most kids say funny things. You just have to listen." And she was good at that. Listening for the nuggets, remembering them, and retelling them. Probably we would all have more interesting stories to tell if we just listened and observed more closely. And remembered. On the other hand...

I have a friend in London named Gabriela. I live in Minnesota. We've only met in person a few times, back in the days before I retired when we attended the same conferences. But we've become mutual "followers" on Facebook and our friendship has blossomed. One of the delights of checking Facebook in the morning is to see what interesting things Gabriela has been up to on the other side of the world.  Her latest saga features the adorable neighborhood kittens who insist on using her garden as a litter box. She's tried several deterrents and recently posted an advert for a product she's considering. Mundane, but so funny and quirky. I just thoroughly enjoy the world of Gabby, from the perils of remodeling to the latest tech product experiment to self-improvement initiatives. We might all have lots of interesting nuggets in our lives, but Gabriela has the gift of embracing them with gusto.

On my walks, I've mostly switched my listening from music to podcasts. I listen to Gretchen Rubin quite a bit. Her exploration of human nature and happiness make me think about small changes I might make in my own life to make it a little better. Recently, Gretchen launched a second "quickie" podcast called A Little Happier. It's a very brief, once weekly nugget of wisdom drawn from something she's read, a chance encounter, a past experience. Often after listening I think "I could do that. I could find moments in my life or things I've read that would be worth sharing every week." It's not rocket science, but it is a gift to be observant and to find meaning, relevance, or humor in the things we encounter every day.

A worthy goal -- to try to be a little more interesting by being a little more observant.