Every Friday I transfer posts here from the Virtual Pint archives.
March is such a tease. The microscopic buds on the tree outside my office window have exploded pow! into little fuzzy puffs of tree-stuff that look just like spring is here to stay. But I’ve been down this road with March before. I know that as soon as I drag out the t-shirts, the freezing rain will begin again…
But it sure is pretty right now. I hope it’s nice where you are, too.
Today’s pints are all topics that I still think long and hard about — love, hope, daily choices. Seems like no matter how far down any particular road I go, I always come back to these things.
- Sunshine (October 2006) — Talkin’ about love.
- Small reasons (October 2006) — Stephen King’s characters.
- Hope and hopelessness (October 2006) — This is one of a series of posts about hope. I posted a recap of the entire set (so far) about a year ago, for those who are interested in seeing the progression.
Enjoy your Friday.
Sometimes it seems like the only way to avoid hopelesness is to have no expectations at all. Then we can never suffer disappointment. It leads to proverbs like “once burned is twice shy”. I have spent much of my life doing things I really want to do in the face of my sometimes almost paralyzing fear. And it’s a good thing, because it has brought me joy. My fears are not rational, but they are real. My worst fear is that people won’t love me, much proof to the contrary notwithstanding. I am not proud of it, but it appears to be an inerradicable part of me. That’s why I believe in hope.
The blog ate my post!
If we don’t have expectations, we will never feel hopeless or disappointed. That’s where proverbs like “once burned is twice shy” come from. I can’t stand to be one of those people who carry an umbrella everywhere, a bottle of aspirin in each pocket, take their temperature twice a day, never shake hands because of germs, and only hang out with people just like them. That sort of caution leads to death in life. I’ve stubbed my toe and worsr a bunch of times in jobs and relationships, but I would’nt have missed them for the world.
Well, what do you know. The blog didn’t eat my post. Now you have two parts of the same perspective.
Barbara, thank you for all these parts!
I stub my toes all the time too — more and more as I get older. That’s funny in a way, because when I was younger I thought that when I was older I’d know more, have more coping skills and reference points. And I do, for sure. But I am also taking more risks, stretching farther, reaching higher, exposing myself to making mistakes, being criticized, being disliked…. so yep, more sore toes for me. I still don’t enjoy it, but it turns out that I don’t die from it after all, the way I always thought I would when I was in my 20’s…..