Do you know how much I love reading comments? Whenever I put
up a blog post, I eagerly wait to see what you have to say in response. I read
every comment and try to respond to each one. It means a great deal to me when
you say something nice about the post, of course, but I also love to hear your
thoughts on the topic of the day. In return, I try to visit as many blogs as
possible and leave my own comments—even if it’s just a sentence or two so the
blogger knows someone has read and understood her (99% of the time it’s a her)
words. We all like to be seen and acknowledged, don’t we?
For several months, I’ve been toying with the idea of
writing a post quoting you, my wise and witty readers—and today’s the day.
Since I’ve been blogging these past three years, you’ve followed my ups and
downs and chipped in with your advice and encouragement. Below you’ll find just
a few of the comments that have made a difference to me in the last three years,
in no particular order. Comments have been edited for length, but not changed
in meaning.
From “What is This Feeling?”:
Sara: “A friend once told me to buy 5 x 7 cards and whenever
you have ‘light’ moment or one that's happy and totally present, you write it
down and keep them in one of those albums you can buy at a pharmacy for
pictures.
Whenever you're feeling a loss of light, you look through it and remember the times when the ‘light’ was there.”
Whenever you're feeling a loss of light, you look through it and remember the times when the ‘light’ was there.”
From “Happiness Busters”:
Laure: “Some of my happiness busters are being overly tired,
too much ‘news’ that I can't do anything about, and some of the ones you
mention.
The words to one of the Eagles' songs, Already Gone, keep running through my mind,
‘...so oftentimes it happens we live our life in chains/That we never even know we have the key.....’
How often do we hold ourselves down, back, under, less than, not good enough, not enough and so on, when really…we are more than enough and far more? We just don't understand we are the key.”
The words to one of the Eagles' songs, Already Gone, keep running through my mind,
‘...so oftentimes it happens we live our life in chains/That we never even know we have the key.....’
How often do we hold ourselves down, back, under, less than, not good enough, not enough and so on, when really…we are more than enough and far more? We just don't understand we are the key.”
From “Puzzled”:
Laure: “To my way of thinking there are seeds of bad in all
good things that happen and seeds of good in all bad things that happen…it is
up to us which we cultivate.”
It seems to me that it is nearly always up to ME in how I choose to see an event. Sometimes stepping back to observe the big picture is all I need to adjust my thinking.”
Kathy M: “The older that I get, the less hard I am on myself
and on others. I wish that I had done many things different, but, look, it has
all turned out fine in spite of myself.
Long ago I heard that regret in a way insults the person that I was long ago, before I knew better. Life is a journey, and perhaps when we are better at forgiving ourselves we become better at forgiving others.”
Long ago I heard that regret in a way insults the person that I was long ago, before I knew better. Life is a journey, and perhaps when we are better at forgiving ourselves we become better at forgiving others.”
From “RX for Troubled Times”:
Timaree: “Sometimes we get frozen in the litany of things
happening all around of which we have little say. Mother Teresa used to tell
people when they asked what they could do, to love and take care of their
families. That's our first and most important job and when that is taken care of,
we can branch out. Like you, I would love to see a world of people being kind
to one another. It has to start somewhere and if taking care of ourselves gets
us going then let's do it. I read on another post today about a smile that led
to one thing and then another and another. That's something we should all be
able to do—give a smile. They can be contagious as a yawn.”
If you choose to participate, the rules are as follows:
- Thank the nominator and link back to their site (Thanks, Kathy—see above).
- Display the award (see below).
- Nominate no more than 14 readers of your blog you appreciate and leave a comment on their blogs to let them know about the award.
- Finish this sentence: A great reader is…Someone who reads in a spirit of curiosity and openness, takes what she can from what she reads and lets the rest go.
