Friday Wisdom

For Christmas last year, My Mom gave me a calendar filled with daily quotes and helpful hints for the "Busy Professional Woman of 2007" (that's me).

The past 2 quotes were actually pretty good.

Wednesday's read, "Wisdom consists of knowing what is not necessary". Boy does this hit home for me. Do you know many times I've had a temper tantrum or blew up at someone and it was totally unnecessary? Well, I can tell you that many, many times my tantrum's have been followed with Brian telling me, "Ya know that's totally not necessary". And....he's always right. I've been trying to make myself more aware of it, but sometimes that ole temper just flares right up out of nowhere.

I was watching Oprah the other day and she said something that has stuck with me since. She said, "When I'm really angry and really mad about something that has happened in my life, I stop and ask myself, 'On my dying day, will this situation really matter?'"

Wow.

Why haven't I been asking myself that for the past 32 years???? Instead, when I get upset about this or that, I have let it affect my day, my mood and sometimes even those around me. Unfortunately, I can't count the times I've been upset at something trivial and have snapped at Brian, an innocent bystander.

After I heard Oprah's comment, I'm very happy to report that when BMW called to tell me my car repairs might total $2200, I didn't get upset. It's only money. When I got home last night to find that Cooper had turned one of my brand new leather boots into an open-toed boot, I didn't get upset. They are only boots. This morning, when a man almost ran over my foot with his SUV because he was illegally chatting away on his cell phone while driving, oblivious to the fact that I had a "Walk" signal, I let it roll off my back. Why? Because I was safe and it's not necessary to let it bother me.

That's the moral of the quote from Wednesday, right? I've been so focused on what IS necessary that I have totally let the UNNECESSARY stuff fly under the radar.

Yesterday's quote reads, "When my life is over; I am curious if I will feel that I have lived it or just got through it".

What a great time of year to stop and reflect the decisions we've made in 2007. Brian is so busy right now and SO stressed out. He's got a lot going on and we haven't been able to spend a lot of time together lately due to work, holiday commitments and his 'second job' as a landlord. We keep telling each other that we'll make up for it during the holidays when we take a breather for a quick snowboarding trip. But is that okay? Should we putting off spending time together to get the other stuff taken care of?? It's easy to answer that by asking one simple question, "If, God forbid, anything happened to either of us tomorrow, would we regret the decision to put the trivial stuff before our relationship?"

I would absolutely regret that!

SO!!! Are you living your life? Or just getting through it? MAKE the time for your loved ones TODAY! Figure out what is necessary and most importantly, what is not necessary!!!!