Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Odds and Ends ~ 15

Albert Shweitzer said, “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”

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I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.

Frank A. Clark, writer (1911- )
Frank is right, but I am having a hard time finding any humor in the fact that Blogger will NOT let me upload a photo to this post! I tried it three times, in all size formats, and though it says "done" - it isn't. Grrrrrrr!

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This is an oldie, but one that bears repeating:

I believe - That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe - That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe - That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe - That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe - That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe - That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe - That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe - That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe you can control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe - That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I believe - That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - That money is a lousy way of keeping score

I believe - That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe - That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe - That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe - That just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I believe - That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe - That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe - That no matter how badly your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe - That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe - That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe - That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe - That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I believe - That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe - That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Which of the above statements speaks to you the most - and why?

The one that spoke to me is the second, about friends hurting us every once in a while and that we have to forgive them. While working on the big gala last week, a good friend of mine who was working with us was explaining something to me about how she was dividing up the flowers for five arrangements. I am losing my hearing and I often have to ask people to repeat something, but this time, I heard what she said, I just didn't understand it completely. So, I asked for clarification, and I saw her roll her eyes in frustration. Shortly thereafter, she snapped at me and said "I just want to be left alone to do my work", which I thought was odd, because I had not said anything to her, other than to comment on something she had said.


At first, I was very hurt and tears started to well up in my eyes, but I supressed them as best I could, not wanting to cry in front of other people. For several days, I pondered how best to approach this with her. Finally, I decided not to say anything at all. She has been my friend for a long time, and has not previously done anything like this. I know she has a lot of stress in her life right now. Perhaps it was that or another worker who frustrated her, and I just exacerbated it. I decided to forgive and forget, and after reading this, I knew I was right.






19 comments:

Susie said...

Great list!
You're right, sometimes even good friends do hurtful things and it doesn't mean that they don't care about us. It may have just been a reaction to something else happening in her life...

Loren said...

Actually, the first one, “I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.“ seems right on because it’s the way I’ve learned to cope with most of life’s problems, including Vietnam.

Thank goodness it’s easy to find humor in most probems than it is to solve them.

Eddie said...

Judy,
I concurr with the same one you do plus these two:
I believe - That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - That money is a lousy way of keeping score

utenzi said...

I think Albert Shweitzer might have gotten the part about cats wrong, Judy. :-)

Anonymous said...

Two people can look at the same thing and see somethine entirely different.
I like this one best...and the older I get...the more I like it and also the saying, "Let's agree to disagree" We don't ALL see things the same way, nor do we perceive them the same way....and that's okay. Really feeling this is the key....live and let live.

fakies said...

I see quite a few of them that apply to how I feel. And then there's some I should be applying as well. (gulp!)

Shephard said...

All very solid beliefs that make life easier to deal with. I liked that you worked thru the issue with your friend yourself, and shared how you got there. I try to do the same thing as often as possible.

The one that spoke to me most is being responsible for what we do. Boy howdie. Wish the rest of the world would grasp the totality of that.

Great post!
~S

Shephard said...

P.S.
Since I switched to using Firefox as my browser, instead of Internet Explorer, I haven't had any photo-posting problems.
This won't account for the times Blogger is working on things... but I've had really good results using Firefox.

~S

justrose said...

i liked so many of them. maybe this one sums it up:

I believe - That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

amen, the decades in the therapy chair. am i any better? i'd like to think so. i had a childhood that was broken, then took 19 more years to finish itself up. and sometimes i'm still not sure if it's over.

and as for you, good for you for turning the other cheek. maybe sometime bring it up in a nonconfrontational way. i am absolutely certain your friend just had something else going on. my best friend says, when someone is snippy, always assume they had an argument with someone else that day, and act accordingly. but it's never fun to be snapped at.

srp said...

I've seen this list called "I'm learning" and all of them spoke to me. Particularly the one about being too eager to learn a secret because it might change your life forever. How many times have I seen that! How many times have I been too eager! Not only does it change your own life but it changes how you look at others.

I don't know about the Blogger itself. But Hello was driving me crazy for two days about posting pictures.

Babette said...

{{{hugs for Judy}}}

Carolyn said...

Wow, for me, this gets complicated. I want to say #5, but only because of soemtimes feeling left out and unaccepted by those who act like #26 is what matters most. But on the other hand, I say to hell w/them, so #9 should be the attitude I adopt. And most days I do, but other days...

Anonymous said...

I believe - That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

Having agreed on that one Judy I've fixed your irritation I think.
BTW what is it about holtieshouse that turns you away from Beta?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I thought I was here already! I was, but I meant to comment before I got diverted to Music and Cats blog. So, I know this is a serious post, Judy, but somehow, when I read the one about doing something in an instant resulting in a lifetime of heartbreak- well, I remembered
something really really bad (read mischievous)I did on impulse but I never got caught and to this day I feel both very guilty and still...wonderfully mischievous. If you ever write a post about those kinds of things and I'll let you know what it was...:-)
That aside, you are indeed a good- and wise- friend to let that incident go by.

Anonymous said...

oh crum. now I'm here too much.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Sometimes these lists make me realize how many mistakes I have made in life.

Tia said...

hmmmm.... I like them all, but keep the one about attitude controlling me close to my ocnsciousness every day! Great post! =)

Chancy said...

Super list

This one spoke to me:

"I believe - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become"