Outlook

Outlook is all about how we perceive the world. I suppose one would say that I am optimistic. I like that, and if I weren't that by nature, I think I'd do everything I could to become that. Why? Life doesn't always hand us a silver spoon. Over the years, I've been moved about by first my father's AF career, and then my husbands. I was never in a place for more than 4.5 years, and many times, we were at our assigned base for less than that. That sort of thing makes making and loosing a constant. It's hard on kids in some ways, but it makes a stronger person. Coming into a new classroom that is half way through a school year is tough for the first month or so, but friendships do develop over time. The trick is to keep them - even after you've moved away. It's not always easy being away from one's family either, but friends can fill that void. Some bases were in places others might not have found "wonderful." Yet, I always found a way to love the place we were stationed. South Dakota has beautiful summers, and the Black Hills are a joy, for instance. I also see digging out of a front door that under 6' feet of snow a challenge - but - one can revel in the accomplishment once it's done! So, my point is: don't get nonplussed about everything - or even the big things - like having your husband become a woman. Life goes one, and somehow, most folks survive. So, here's a poem I carry around and would like to share. It's an Ancient Sanskrit:

Look to this day
for it is life.
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all
the realities and truths of existence,
the joy of growth,
the splendor of action,
and the glory of power.
For yesterday is but a memory.
And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived
makes every yesterday a memory of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!