What you know for sure

Today my family and I had a rare day without a single thing planned, and while we were all three lounging in my room petting the cats and talking about what we’d like to do (we ended up going to see a movie at the dollar show), we got to talking about things that we know for sure about life so far.

Wood Sprite is so wise. Her simple reply was, “I know that I am on my side. I don’t take other people’s sides. But I am a friend to everyone.” I felt like crying. “Honey, if everyone had that same philosophy, there’d be peace on earth,” I told her.

I only half-jokingly said that I know that a good, comfortable bed is important. My family laughed, but it’s the truth! For years we had an old bed with a horrible old mattress. We could actually feel the springs in it. We spend a third of our lives in our beds, so they’d better be good! Our amazing mattress is probably the best purchase we’ve ever made.

I also shared something that I learned from Amy Smith, the Joy Junkie. It’s something that I wish I’d learned a long, long time ago, and it’s so simple: other peoples’ opinions of you are none of your business. What a revolutionary thought! She says to visualize other people’s opinions of you as a pile of s***, literally, and they are handing it to you. You just smile and say, “No thanks, you keep that!” Not only is it hilarious, but oh by golly wow, does it make it easier to actually DO. Thank you for that, Amy.

Something else that I’ve learned that I keep trying to show Sprite is that you cannot make anyone else happy—you can only make yourself happy. That’s something else I wish I’d known a long, long time ago.

What have you learned that you try to share with your family—or the world?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia