Dear Reader:

We are down to our last “speaking scarf”…along with the correlation to the famous quote from Aristotle “Moderation in all things.”

I know exactly where I was and who said the quote when I heard it for the first time. It was in an educational classroom (about this time of the year) and I had just made the decision to major in history with a secondary teaching degree.

The professor that day was head of the secondary education department at Erskine College and he was known for having a particularly and (quite noticeably) nasal twang. He rapped on his podium stand with a ruler and said:

“Mod..der…ray…shun ( he took at least 30 seconds the get this word out alone with the accent on “der”) in…n..n..n.. (“in” sounded like a bee buzzing) all….thangs.” Er…I…Stot Tell. (Aristotle)

I only remember trying not to make eye contact with any other students in the room…or I would lose it….I could actually feel the giggles bubbling beneath the surface. I did the old coughing trick and glanced away when a fellow student pretended to blow his nose loudly and very “nasal-ly.” (a new made up word)

Yet, from this dubious origin,  the quote (today) has become my mantra on life.

Maybe it is because I am a LIBRA and have always liked balance in my personal life. Then, later, (professionally) through teaching cause and effect…I discovered history is simply a series of events that occur quite naturally in patterns that are repeated over and over.

It is when one cause or one effect doesn’t balance out the other that chaos ensues.

I remember letting the students have “snowball” fights in the classroom to teach ’cause and effect.’ I would take a simple balancing scale with me to class for this particular lesson.

After the throwing of snowballs (which I made from a thick white paper…the size of the snowballs matched only the correct cause and effect sequence. The students had to find their partner who had the other part of the “cause and effect” snowball and then bring it up to the scales to see if the two balanced out or not.

Reflecting back on my life…I see now that I have spent most of my life trying to keep “balance” in it…sometimes more successfully than others…but it has always been my goal.

Don’t you love the second part of today’s quote:

“Never let success go to your head. Never let failure go to your heart.”

Easier said than done…right?  As a history teacher…it is easy to pick up on the familiar patterns involving the downfall of emperors, dictators, empires and countries. It has all come to pass… largely due to the fault of the leader letting “success go to his/her head.” 

Tuesday night I saw a PBS special on Henry the VIII and he definitely let success (power) go his head while chopping off everybody else’s around him.

It is the second part of the statement “Never let failure go to our hearts”  that hits home to so many of us. Whether we call ourselves  “good enough’ers” or “perfectionists” most of us want so badly to please our bosses and feel that we are contributing to our workplace’s success.

It is the degree to which we let mistakes and failures penetrate our hearts, minds, and very souls that indicates the person we are at the present moment…not the one we hope to become. We have to accept ourselves as we are all along the journey…not just at the end.

If we can’t forgive ourselves for our mistakes along the path of life…then others who can …will end up more successful while we drop behind…lost in the quandary of self-doubt.

So until tomorrow….Help us Father accept ourselves as we are today…Help keep us in balance with Your Will and desires for our lives…by coming to You in prayer and letting You guide us along the way.

“Today is my favorite day.” Winnie the Pooh

The newest addition to my front yard…this beautiful purple Bougainvillea (Mandy and I got at Hidden Ponds) alongside the driveway and beside the bottle tree….it makes me happy every time I drive in or I drive out…beauty in balance.

* Another wonderful balance popped up this afternoon!!!! Bekah got this wonderful state job with a “balance” of health and retirement benefits… the job is as an interventionist for special needs children…she will be so good at this!!!!!! A  “balance” of new opportunities for Bekah and Ady! Congratulations!