St. Theresa's Prayer

"May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

Optimistic Balance

Interesting to read this article about the power of staying positive, and realize how many "but/balancing" thoughts go through my mind about it. Once again, "healthy balance" seems to be the best words for the overall concept to strive for, then you just have to try to define those "simple" words of "healthy" and "balance" in a complex world! The thought crossed my mind that "the unbalanced optimist is the one killed trying to ski through the revolving door with the most optimistic view of the possible outcome". Few extremes (if any) are widely practical. That being said, I would still describe myself as an optimist in general, and a realist when it is more practical. Hmm, interesting to split it up and ask what areas one is optimistic about relative to others (I'm very optimistic about people, but not about stressful situations)...

The Book of Life

I've always wanted to be the author of the best "book about life" available. I always bemoaned the fact that there is no good book of this sort (my opinion, of course), and frequently thought there should be. I wanted a book to help people through the hardest times in life, to help them find happiness in life, to help them find meaning to their life, to help them accomplish what they want to accomplish, and to be genuinely good people.

I think I always knew that there could be no perfect book like this, and as I've grown older, that thought has solidified for me -- what is right and most helpful for one person at one time is not necessarily right or helpful for another person or even that same person at a different time. Maybe I'll save more discussion of that concept for another post.

What got me started thinking about this today was some of the humorous aspects of my thoughts about writing such a book of life. One was that I always liked to joke that I wanted to write a book about life as soon as I was done, because then I would have learned as much as possible about it!

Also humorous has been my efforts at thinking of what the best title for the book would be, and here are some of my top choices so far:

Life (as I know it)
Life: Your Mileage Will Vary
Life: Nobody Gets Out Alive
Life: We Apologize for the Inconvenience
The Cliff Notes of Life