You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

~ Johnny Cash 

Rock Solid

 One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time.

~It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.~

Sir Edmund Hillary

“I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.”

(I'm getting the hiking bug....

mapping out all the trails I want to cover this summer...can you tell?)

Hoping you all have a wonderful weekend!

Someone is watching you.....

{"Setting an example is not the main means of  influencing another, it is the only means."} ~Albert Einstein

It turns out I am a terrible driver.

Oh- I was told so in a very respectable way.

But I am now completely aware of all the mistakes I have and am making while I behind the wheel.

Did you know I tail gate?

And...I definitely do not stop at a Stop sign for the mandatory 3 seconds.

Don't even ask about shoulder checking.

Or drinking coffee behind the wheel.

Turns out that when your teenager takes a Drivers Education class.....they become super smart.

And you  realize how much you aren't doing correctly.

And...how much you are being watched.

{"If you must hold yourself up to your children as an object lesson, hold yourself up as a warning and not as an example."

~George Bernard Shaw}

~~~~

Turns out it doesn't just happen with us humans.

My "old" dog is being followed by the "new dog".

Everything the "old" dog does...the new one copies.

Looking that way.

Then this way.

Look left.

Then forward again.

(Seems as though my dog would have no problem with shoulder checking;)

~~~~~~~~

{"A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not."}

I am wishing I would have been a bit more careful in all I have done up to this point while raising kids.

Although....

by the sounds of things,

 there does come a point when your teenager seems to know more than you do.

~~~~~

{Be a positive example at all times, and when necessary- use words.}

~~~~

Thinking I may need to sign myself in to that Drivers Education class today....

little things

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
-- Epictetus

Being Thankful for all the little things today.

(happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!)

Simple

Reflecting on Simple

My Simple List:

~ walking has to be one of my favorite things to do~

~ being with those i love~

~ thinking of everything, and then again- of nothing in particular~

~ eating my favorite food~

~ reading too~

~ watching my kids learn~

~ finding a new place to explore while i'm out in my wooded backyard~

~ sitting quietly on my back hill under a moon~

{and my list can go on and on}

Oh how I wish it was only my Simple List that

 I had to get done today.

~~~~~~

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.  

~John Burroughs

~~~~~~~

Have a wonder-full weekend.....

Happening Now

I love this picture.

I took it on one of my walks around a lake near here.

It makes me think of life.

How we stumble through it and all its troubles, just waiting for the troubles to be finished so we can get on with REAL LIFE.

~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. 

At last it dawned on me that these obstacles 

were my life. "

~Alfred D’Souza

~~~~~~~~~

I came across this quote yesterday and it struck a nerve.

How often I have done this.

Waiting for real life to begin.....

It's hard when you feel like you're stuck in the same place and not getting any where.

It's hard when you feel life is preying upon you and striking out- using you as the target.

It's hard to remember that this path we're on...no matter how rough- 

IS actually 

Real Life.

{It's not the destination but the journey.}

I finally feel like I'm understanding this.

Finally.

~Now I just have to learn now to handle the rough path with a 

bit more grace than I have been~

Have a wonderful day in your Real Life....regardless of where it's taking you.

It's happening now.

Just Thinking....

``Never let a problem to be solved become more important than the person to be loved.``

-Barbara Johnson

Do one thing every day that scares you

-Eleanor Roosevelt

``The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.``
-Martin Luther King Jr.

``Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and 

realize they were the big things.``

-Robert Brault

``A good book should leave you...slightly exhausted at the end. 

You live several lives while reading it.``

-William Styron

``Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.``

-Lady Bird Johnson

``What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment.``