We Can Leap Over Hurdles, All Of Them

 The way we look at ourselves and our lives is designated by how we feel about ourselves. When I was heavier in weight, I still knew it was ME just with some added padding. When I lost weight, it was still ME in a slimmer outfit of skin and bones.

It was still me, daughter of my late parents, sister of my late brother, wife of my husband for 53 years, dance partner of my ballroom dance teachers, aunt to my niece and nephews, mother of my son and daughter, mother-in-law to my children's spouses, grandmother of three grandsons and one granddaughter, friend to my friends, great aunt to my two great nephews and one great niece and their respective spouses and last but not least, I became a great- great aunty-2 greats, to a great- great nephew  September 2011 and a little great niece in 2012. Believe me, this is a great, great accomplishment.

In an obituary about a very accomplished man who passed on, they quote his daughter who said “dad never had any heroes to follow. He said you have to be your own hero.” This is a good line, we can become our own hero and then we will have accomplished as someone said- we will have unbounded courage and compassion.

I heard this line/thought on a soap opera yesterday. One man said to a woman when she had been berated by someone. He said (it was his old mom who had done the admonishing; he said “remember it does not matter what someone thinks of you, it is what you think of yourself.” We can all live by these simple words. We can become our own hero and we can think highly and proudly of our accomplishments and we can be satisfied of who we are right now.  The person who looks down on you is doing adult bullying, which is just as terrible as teen bullying which has become in this country, a great problem with teens.

It is easier to be kind than to be unkind. Just yesterday, I was in the eye doctor’s office waiting to be seen. The female ophthalmologist, who was not taking care of me this time, walked out with her patient and came over to say hi to me. She said I looked so beautiful and she made me feel ten feet tall. The male eye doctor said “you just came from the hair salon (I did) and your husband should take you out to dinner because you look so lovely.” Again, I felt another ten feet tall which made me too tall to walk through the doorway to go home.

Words are powerful, deceptive, harmful, wonderful, and delightful. Take your pick. Be wise enough when dealing with others to always be felicitous and do your best to give peace to someone instead of turmoil. You will be the ten feet tall person, not the little unpleasant person. As the soap opera actor said it is what you know is true and think of yourself.

So perceive yourself as being a great, great person whether you are a bit heavy, a bit balding, and a bit sad sometimes, a bit not liking your hair some days, not liking your job if still working and not liking lots of things. Think of yourself as wonderful.

 I went out with a young man when I was about 22 and his brother had just written and produced a play on Broadway called Mr. Wonderful. This is a good title to keep in your thoughts about yourself. You are Mr. or Mrs. Wonderful at all times.

Dr. Ben Carson said in his book Gifted Hands “To think big and to use our talents doesn’t mean we won’t have difficulties along the way. We will, we all do. How we view those problems determines how we end up. If we choose to see the obstacles in our path as barriers, we stop trying. We moan we can’t win. They won’t let us win. However, if we see the obstacles as hurdles, we can leap over them. Successful people don’t have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward. Whatever direction we choose, if we can realize that every hurdle we jump strengthens and prepares us for the next one, we’re already on the way to success.”