----------------------------------------------- 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]