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Max’s Mad Lib
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. — Max Ehrmann, The Desiderata I have to admit, when I first read this sentence, I wasn’t really feeling it. Should we be enjoying our achievements more? Or our plans? Or is it the achievements for which we have planned? Or the plans that we’ve achieved? Max, Max, Max…what are you saying?!? Given his litany of directives about how to engage the world around us, I was a little surprised at the brevity of this installment’s statement. (The next sentence in the Desiderata may hint that he’s talking about vocation here, but that sentence actually stands alone as a fuller idea.) So,…
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Desired Things
“Silver-white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things” – My Favorite Things, Rodgers and Hammerstein Favorite things. Desired things. A heart’s desire. In 1927, Max Ehrmann wrote Desiderata (Latin: “desired things”) as a poetic call to action. Contrary to the implication of the title, these things were not things at all in the physical sense. Rather, it listed ways of thinking and living, perhaps even acts of faith, that enabled contentment. As we wait for this winter to (please) melt into spring, I wanted to explore the wisdom of the eight stanzas and nearly twice as many independent directives of Desiderata. It begins with…
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Be Light
A long December and there’s reason to believe that this year will be better than the last. — Counting Crows, A Long December It’s been a crazy month. December almost always is. Like a blanket of fresh snow, we overlay a winter wonderland a top of our already filled to the brim, year-end lives. I have a love/hate relationship with this month. Everything is wrapped in red and green, trimmed in peppermint sticks, and served with warm chocolate. I cherish the extra warmth and good cheer; enjoy the special foods we prepare; and am awed by the solitude of winter in the Midwest. I struggle with unrealistic expectations of myself and others.…
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Better Than Perfect
“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.” –Mahatama Gandhi My brain innately seeks certainty. Consequently, during in-between moments, at halfway marks, and for those times when I don’t have all of the information, my brain happily compensates. It negotiates facts, guesstimates variables, and does a mental squint to support the perceived invincibility that accompanies the feeling of certainty. Being certain kind of feels like being in control. Pesky doubts and insecurities are mitigated. Outcomes are managed and planned for. Unfortunately, experience has shown that control or controlling is just a placebo antidote to being afraid. It doesn’t actually remove the threat. It just makes us feel like the threat is no longer there.…
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When You Put It That Way
“The level of your commitment is how quickly you return to it.” — Anonymous Much as I hate to admit it, I am someone who evaluates accomplishment in degrees. For example, to call myself a runner it’s not enough to run in the local 5K race for charity. A “real” runner, runs daily and competes in marathons. All kinds of characteristics are subject to this type of evaluation. Being a writer only counts if you’ve been published. Baked goods are only legit if they are made from scratch. You get the idea. For every activity there is a bar, and quite often, I have to be on my tippy toes to reach it. True, I’ve…
