Cliches

This post is dedicated to cliches that really do have an impact on our lives. Well, my life anyway. We all use them. They are something to say when there is nothing else to say. They are words to fill an uncomfortable silence. They are things we say because we know it drives our kids crazy and it is the small amount of payback a mom can get without actually being mean. Hey, they drive us crazy at times, so, well.....

"Hind sight is 20/20" I used to hear this as a kid and think, "what in the heck does that mean?" Now as an adult I know. Having 20/20 vision means you see perfectly. When we look back over our lives we see perfectly what we should have, would have, or could have done to make things better. Problem is, you can't live in the past nor can you change it.

Which leads us to: "Tomorrow is another day." Scarlett O'Hara was right when she said this. Tomorrow is another day to correct any mistakes we made today. However there is a problem with this cliche as well because, "Tomorrow never comes." We put off and say "tomorrow" when we really should be doing and saying "today." Finally one day we wake up and realize that the intentions for tomorrow were thought of 10 years ago and we still have not changed the problem. As for getting healthy, it has been 32 years for me. I know that because my son is now 32 and I have intended to lose weight since he was born. Frankly, my dear, that is a lot of tomorrows.

"Every cloud has a silver lining." Yes it does, only sometimes that lining is lead. Unless you are Superman hiding out from cryptonite, lead is not exactly a great thing for anyone. Sometimes it is just best to accept the disappointment and move on from there. Disappointments are a part of life. We cannot escape them. We must learn to deal with them or succumb to depression or worse. I have my days here and there, but mostly I just keep trudging on.

"All that glitters is not gold." Again, yes that is true. We rush after the glitter and think that it will make our lives better. It is a temporary fix. Gold in itself is soft and weak. You need to mix harder, uglier metals with it to give it strength. That is where the troubles of life come it. They are the ugly that makes the pretty possible.

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." True, but who wants to drink after a horse anyway? Maybe where you have lead someone is not where they are supposed to be. Maybe they need to walk a little on their own to find the right place for a drink.

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." We think that other people have perfect lives. We see the greener grass but we do not see the dirty dishes, piles of laundry, or sadness that may be hiding behind that green grass. Guess that we really do need to "walk a mile in their shoes" to understand their lives. Empathy, my friend, is a gift that few people have and even fewer people want.

Last,but not least, "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones." You know, this cliche says a lot about life. We need to remember it. We need to employ it. We are all different and we should be. If we were all the same what a boring place Earth would be. Yet instead of accepting our differences and trying to understand them, we judge, ridicule, mock, and outcast those who are different from us. If you are a Christian you should remember that there was only one perfect person who walked this Earth and it was not you or me. If you are not a Christian you should remember this cliche that sums it all up, "Nobody's perfect." Make an effort to accept. I did not say agree; I said accept. Take the journey to make our world a better place. Because....

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." You are on a great journey called life. Make the most of it.