"Action is the antidote to despair. It may not help the world but it always helps us."
"We don't heal without hurting. For a while, the cure for the pain is the pain."
"Stories allow us to make sense of our lives."
"Stories are always an interpretation of facts."
"This may be the most important thing--that we learn to grant ourselves mercy."
"Feeling grateful is not a moral injunction, but rather, a healthy habit. . . ."
"But who exactly has my anger been punishing?"
"It's a question of balance and contrast."
"When the sunset blazes copper and gold, we don't want to be checking Facebook."
"[A]geism may be an even more serious challenge than aging."
"Why me?" No, "Why not me?"
"Actually there are no small pleasures. A cup of coffee...a song...or a walk...can be exquisite."
Hospice teaches that there are five essential conversations:
- "Please forgive me."
- "I forgive you."
- "I love you."
- "Thank you."
- "Goodbye."
"We will find what we look for."
"Happiness requires us to make the choice to pay attention to this and not that."
"We all keep appointments we did not make."
"Time management is not for the faint of heart."
"It's not time to worry yet."
These quotations are from Dr. Mary Pipher's book Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age. I chose these sentences because each one seems that it could be true for each of us at any stage of life. Age and gender not required. Each statement creates ripples like a small stone tossed into the undulating pool of our own thoughts. Each could be its own blog post, written by any of us, literally or in our minds, and perhaps will. So, I'm recommending this book. It's a slow read because the words reach from the writer's experiences into our experiences. We can ponder, and decide how to apply what Dr. Pipher talks about to our needs and aspirations, our fears, our futures. Thank you for writing, Dr. Pipher. Today my gratitude is for you. Nina Naomi
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