History is a vast early warning system. Norman Cousins, 1915-1990
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think these two quotations need to be in balance. We can learn from history and the lives of others, but ultimately we have to live our own lives in ways that are not too timid. It seems by definition we might then expect some surprises, even some mistakes.
A woman I know of never considered her decisions to be a mistake even if she had to do a 180 degree turn. She considered it a way for her to find her path again — that the one decision led her to know what to do from there, similar to moving above the treeline when climbing a mountain. I think I can learn from her, but it isn’t the way I normally feel when I think I need to make another choice.
I’ve been thinking of this quote:
Trials and tribulations are mandatory in life. Suffering is optional. Unknown author
I seems to me that a certain amount of suffering goes along with some trials and tribulations — how could it not. It’s part of the human condition. We don’t have to put more of it on ourselves by over-pondering what part we played in it. Learn and move on. Ha! that’s easier said than done sometimes, but when we are finally able to move away from it a bit, we move away proportionally from some of the suffering. Along the road we pick up some empathy for the suffering of others and even for our own.
And I think this quote fits in here:
The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering. Augustine of Hippo 354-430 AD
Have fun with life and make it worth remembering.
Karin
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Just thinking, Quotations
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