At 08:13 AM 11/5/98 -0500, you wrote: >----------------------------------------------- >Subj: More hard times >----------------------------------------------- > >hi george > >you wrote, in part: >>...On the matter of gifts. They come unexpectedly... > >you could apply that to all aspects of life >we can plan and hope and attempt to harness the future >till we're blue in the face > >but the reality is >we're not the ones in the driver's seat > >none of us knows what's around the next corner >or over the next hill > >all we have is today >there's no point in worrying about the past and the future >it's a waste of precious time and energy > >***** >>The best laid plans of mice and men >>gang oft agley >>and lea'e us naught but grief and pain >>for promised joy >***** > >exactly! >but a question is >who made the promises >and created the expectations? > >i also like a toast of burns' [i believe] >that my glaswegian grandmother, the esteemed janet paterson, used: > >***** >here's to us was like us >and de'il the yin >***** > >my translation/spelling may not be exact >but i believe that the intent is >"here's to us and our 'kindred' >and to the devil with the rest" > >i interpret it further as >"the only opinions that matter >are your own and those of the ones you love" > >worrying about the opinions of others >is just another waste of precious time and energy > >>...I do not like my PD. It has robbed me of my >>independence, taken pleasure from my life, stripped >>away my self-confidence, sapped my energy, depressed >>my family, separated me from my friends, driven me >>from my profession, and darkened my future. it has >>also forced me to look, unblinking, into the mirror >>of self-revelation until I see myself as I am... > >this is one of those "aha!" moments, >which reminds me of maya angelou's words: >[when she has an "aha!" moment, it's an "AHA!" moment] > >***** > >We, this people, on this wayward, floating body >Created on this earth, of this earth >have the power to fashion for this earth >A climate where every man and every woman >Can live freely without sanctimonious piety >And without crippling fear >When we come to it >We must confess that we are the possible >We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world >That is when, and only when >We come to it. > >***** > >from A Brave and Startling Truth by Maya Angelou > >***** > >i consider it a rare privilege to be able to participate >in a phenomenon such as this list > >and pd >was part of the road >i was taken on to get here > >thanks, george > >your syber-sis > >janet > >----------------------------------------------- > >janet paterson - 51 now / 41 dx / 37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada >http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/ >[log in to unmask] > AMEN I.Y.Q.