Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge
Hiding in a stack of books near my desk was a book of quotes I received in a gift exchange at NCTE from Stacey Shubitz. Thanks, Stacey for inspiration to write.
The quote above reminds me of a similar quote,“If you love something set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If not, it was never meant to be.”
As each day goes by, I learn more about happiness. Today, I visited a close friend who has terminal cancer. I wasn’t sure what I would see when I walked into her home. But everything was as it had been. She is surrounded by things that please her, drift wood, wind chimes, flowers. She is surrounded by people she loves. She wakes up each new day in gratitude.
I don’t think we should require a diagnosis to learn to live in happiness and gratitude. The most important things in life are not things. They are love, kindness, empathy, joy. These things are not things you can hold in your hand, so you must release them to find them. You must give love to find love.
Kindness for kindness.
Empathy for empathy.
Joy for Joy.
And when you give all of these “things” away, what you have is happiness.
When we hug someone we love, we never have any guarantees that we will be with them again. We hear it over and over. Live for today. Make every moment count. But when it all comes down to it, what choice do we have?
I released my friend. We hugged. We smiled. We said “I love you.” I promised to come see her again. But for today, I’ve released her. She was never mine anyway.
Reflections on the Teche 