"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." --------Eleanor Roosevelt A mini-celebratory brunch is in order: the doctor reported both heart and aorta are sound. “We’ll take you out,” we say. “You’ll come here,” she insists. “The best bagels, fresh eggs, delicious fruit, plus quiet and lots of room.” We relent. Four years ago, the collapse—after a symphony hall concert. She attended concerts often—multiple subscriptions, with friends and alone. And the art galleries, the library lectures, the trice-weekly swims, the scheduled trip to Macchu Picchu… That evening, she was alone.
Tag: optimism
Practicing Optimism in a Crappy World
After my last couple of posts, several people said they appreciate my optimism—a trait that is clearly in short supply these days. As I don’t think I’m either ostrich or Pollyanna, and I’ve done plenty of ranting and yelling at the images on the TV news and on my often too-smart-by-half phone, I’ve been exploring the source of the hopefulness that I've been conveying to you. I think that the mindfulness meditation I’ve been practicing for more than a year now has finally reached fruition, and I'd like to share some of my discoveries and resources... It’s been quite a journey for me to reach this point, and I’ll readily acknowledge there are times when reality’s bite makes me feel optimism is kind of nutty. But then I breathe, smile, and the shadow passes. We really don’t have to live in anger and fear.
annieasksyou... 