Not Another Book Quote?
This one is from "The Prize Pulitzer" by Roxanne Pulitzer with Kathleen Maxa:
"I slowly began to see that perhaps my divorce had had a purpose -- it was a stepping-stone to understanding a much broader canvas. Spiritual truths cannot come until one is ready for them. I chose this path and this lesson, and now it is my responsibility to turn the negative into a positive, or at least put it on the road toward the positive. For truly, there is no negative experience, only a lack of understanding of the lesson involved. There is no failure except in no longer trying to make things better. The defeat comes from within."You can try, but it is really not possible to separate out one action or part of your life and move forward. Life is a journey, and it will have its ups and downs.
Yes, I am in prison, I have been locked up behind bars in jail or prison for over ten years now. But despite that, and something that I sometimes I do not want to acknowledge I have grown and learned much about life and myself during this time.
One of my pen pals wrote me a letter recently and apologized for whining so much about her husband and what he had been up to lately. She then recapped some of the incredible experiences she had shared either with and or because of her husband and realized life is certainly made up of good times and bad times.
That is what I have learned. I would certainly not have been doing as much reading and writing had I not been incarcerated. I would not have had the six years of counseling with a psychologist, and would not have been able to correspond with some truly awesome people (you all know who you are!).
While it would certainly be nice to be able to have a little more control and options over my day to day existence, I have to deal with what I have in front of me now. It is not the best, but as they say it could be worse!
Not that that is the only way to look at life. But I do agree with Roxanne, (I wonder if she would mind me being on a first name basis with her?) it is all about the lessons we can and should learn and the incredible growth that we are capable of as long as there is breath in our bodies.
Thank you all for reading my ramblings, for checking in from time to time to see what I am up to. A special "thank you" to those of you that have taken the time to drop a comment. A very special thanks to those of you the have gone one step further and written to me directly.
And of course, no amount of praise and thanks would ever be enough for all the efforts of my Editor, without whom my journey would not have come as far as it has, and for that I am forever grateful.
And how did this sudden burst of posts start off? I guess it is because my carpentry projects are moving along, I was able to acknowledge I was doing more work than necessary and at the same time take ownership of the fact that it was for me that I was doing it, not so others would like me more. That might happen, but that is not within my control. The effort and extra work are being done for me!
And all of a sudden, now I was able to not only spend two plus hours reading Wednesday's New York Times, and complete the puzzle, I had enough emotional energy to pull out the typewriter, and do more typing than I have in the last few weeks.
For the lack of posts lately I do apologize, but know that if the blog is not updated for a few days it is because I am taking care of me and sometimes that in and of itself is a full time job! Assistance is accepted gratefully, apply within.
It is now 9:25 PM and I am about to print out the final copy of this last few paragraphs. This session was started around 6:00 PM. More to come soon (I hope).
