Or so my mother, the wisest woman who ever lived, taught me when I was growing up. It was not something she told me once to help me over a rough spot. It was a fact that she lived and breathed. And she was right. What I did not know did not hurt me, but there was that part she forgot to add about "The chickens always come home to roost." These two adages are intrinsically tied together in this game of life. I think this one came about when I thought my first husband was fooling around on me. And she was right. If he was and I really did not know it for a fact, it did not hurt me. Sadly, though, God has his way of dealing reality to a situation. This reality came in the form of a venereal disease when I was 6 months pregnant. Yep, the chickens came home to roost that day.
That should have been the end of that marriage, but I hung on for 5 more years and 3 more kids. During their growing up years, I labored under the adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Yep. I kept the handles on the stove turned in after Debbie reached up from her walker and grabbed the cord on the electric skillet. That could have been a fatality very quickly.
"Better to be safe than sorry."
"Do not judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes."
"No sense beating a dead horse."
"Revenge is a dish best served cold."
And then I figured out that "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." only I was the 'goose' and he was the 'gander'. Divorce became a frequently used word in my vocabulary, along with the "A rolling stone gathers no moss." and "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
As for going back and rehashing old wrongs, that fell under the saying of, "Let sleeping dogs lie, " and "Never poke a hornets nest."
I think a lot of the best ones actually come from the Bible, but mother was prone to spit out a few of them also.
"As you sow, so shall you reap."
"Sow the wind; reap the whirlwind."
My oldest daughter taught me (many years later) that "What don't kill you will make you strong." And she was right, or so it seems as I near the end of my journey.
I find myself reaching for my Bible more regularly these days. I do not know whether it is because we are limited in our interactions because of Covid 19, or just because I am getting old. I do not feel old, but I can count the numbers and I find myself reaching more often for the handrail on the steps. I guess it is just the old circle of life and it all boils down to "click here".
That should have been the end of that marriage, but I hung on for 5 more years and 3 more kids. During their growing up years, I labored under the adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Yep. I kept the handles on the stove turned in after Debbie reached up from her walker and grabbed the cord on the electric skillet. That could have been a fatality very quickly.
"Better to be safe than sorry."
"Do not judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes."
"No sense beating a dead horse."
"Revenge is a dish best served cold."
And then I figured out that "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." only I was the 'goose' and he was the 'gander'. Divorce became a frequently used word in my vocabulary, along with the "A rolling stone gathers no moss." and "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
As for going back and rehashing old wrongs, that fell under the saying of, "Let sleeping dogs lie, " and "Never poke a hornets nest."
I think a lot of the best ones actually come from the Bible, but mother was prone to spit out a few of them also.
"As you sow, so shall you reap."
"Sow the wind; reap the whirlwind."
My oldest daughter taught me (many years later) that "What don't kill you will make you strong." And she was right, or so it seems as I near the end of my journey.
I find myself reaching for my Bible more regularly these days. I do not know whether it is because we are limited in our interactions because of Covid 19, or just because I am getting old. I do not feel old, but I can count the numbers and I find myself reaching more often for the handrail on the steps. I guess it is just the old circle of life and it all boils down to "click here".
No comments:
Post a Comment