“When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”
Joe: “My girlfriend apologized for the first time today.”
Pete: “What did she say?”
Joe: “She said she was sorry she moved in with me.”
Ithaca
C.P. Cavafy
As you set out for Ithaca
hope that your journey is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laestrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare sensation
touches your spirit and your body.
Laestrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope that your journey is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and learn again from those who know.
Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so that you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.
Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would have not set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.
Keep your eyes on the mountain peak. If you look long enough, you’ll reach the top. Never Quit.
Healthy eating starts with learning new ways to eat, such as adding more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and cutting back on foods that have a lot of fat, salt, and sugar.
My experience: Read, read, and read the ingredients and levels of sodium and sugar on the label. Frozen meals, often labeled as healthy, have enough salt to pickle cucumbers (LOL). Seriously, check it out.
Every day problems can consume us. By stepping back, we understand problems don’t last forever. New problems are waiting to take their place. A sense of detachment gives us momentary peace and our problems no longer have dominance.
I should have been nominated to the Supreme Court. I am quick to make snap judgments on little evidence. I find when I set my judgments aside, life suddenly becomes better, anger disappears quicker than the morning dew, and I smile a lot more.
“The writer’s job is to get the main characters up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.”
Joe: “My girlfriend tells me I have two major faults.”
Pete: “What did she tell you?”
Joe: “She said, I don’t listen – and something else.”
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
