Bearable … Good … Wonderful

Let me begin by saying the idea for this post is out and out theft from a post entitled Without resignation on the blog, (life)lessons.   I love blogs that manage to talk about the everyday events of life while still making making me think.   In Without resignation, Allison, the author, asks the following questions:  What makes your life bearable?  What makes your life good?  What makes your life wonderful? Her answers to these questions are well worth reading … here are mine as I left them as comments:

Bearable: Friends. Faith such as it is. Journaling.

Good: Best Friends. Family. Books. Music. Writing and Blogging.

Wonderful: Being married to the same woman for almost 42 years … and still loving her. Grandkids.

These are not answers that I gave a lot of thought.   A lesson I learned in working The Artist’s Way is that sometimes, if you really want to know what you think, you have to answer quickly, before your Inner Censor tells you what you should think.   Sometimes a fast list gives you a surprise that doesn’t show up on a well-thought-out list.  Sitting here three weeks after leaving my comment … in a more thoughtful mood … my list doesn’t surprise me, except perhaps that there are no tangible things included.   It’s not that I don’t enjoy the things I have, I suppose, they just aren’t primary contributors to how I feel about my life.   Certainly, it’s no surprise to see friends, family, music and books on my list and gratifying to see how important writing is to my well-being.

In responding to my comment, Allison said, It’s interesting that faith makes your bearable list – something to think about for me.   Well, turn about is fair play, my blogging friend.  I, too am a little surprised that my faith and friends only make it to the Bearable list, while best friends, music and writing don’t get graded as Wonderful.   It’s certainly possible that I’m just a hard marker, certainly something that fits my personality.   But maybe I need to be a bit  more mindful of how my faith influences my life and of the joy friends bring to my days.   Maybe I need to sit down and just listen to music more often instead of using as background to doing something else.   Maybe if I can move everything up one notch on my lists, I can make my live have fewer Unbearable moments and more Wonderful ones.

So, to echo (life)lessons …What makes your life bearable?  What makes your life good?  What makes your life wonderful? It’s worth thinking … or, if you’re a blogger, worth posting … about.

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Tags: family, friends, grandchildren, gratitude, journalling, marriage, music, smiles, spirituality, writing and blogging

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