One Hundred Days

The milestone of 100 days seems to be an important one. Barack Obama has just recently passed his first 100 days in office and the political pundits and the press are busy judging his accomplishments of the past days.  The general consensus is that the first 100 days have been alright but haven't quite lived up to expectation.

My blog is now officially 100 days old.  This posting marks the 100th entry and the general consensus (admittedly amongst only myself) is 'could do better'.  Reading through a number of earlier entries I am amused by what a self-centred amalgam of emotions I seem to be.

So, just as the experts seem to be advising the President of the US what to do next, I will attempt to distance myself from me for a bit and offer myself some advice for future blog entries.

1.  Don't try and sound smart or over-intelligent (who are we kidding here!)  Write what you feel and what you know.  You will surprise yourself by learning from you.  This is a valuable lesson.

2.  Don't try to sound too esoteric and airy-fairy.  You only embarrass yourself and it's no good pretending that you are anywhere closer to the illusive enlightened state you were in 100 days ago.

3.  Don't get too worried about the nostalgia - this is simply a function of age.  All old women do this.  Tears come easier when you're older.  It doesn't mean anything except your tear ducts are in great working order.

4.  Never, never, never say anything that will embarrass your children.  Your mere existence often does that anyway.  Let's not compound the problem.

5.  No more with the weight loss/gain/loss merry-go-round.  It is a fact - you lose and gain weight the way other people lose their house keys - you lose weight all the time, only to find it again.  Enough.

6.  Stop being embarrassed/defensive about writing a blog.  You do it because you find you love it and you love people reading it.  You like this form of distant attention.  It's OK.

7.  Don't worry about whether your life is interesting enough.  It is.

8.  Stop feeling guilty about taking time off to write this.  This is another form of meditation for you and it's working. Sitting cross-legged in the lotus position is not a possibility, this is.

9.  Accept that you are exceptional.  Accept that you are special and that there is no need for you to find reasons for this.  It just is.

10. Enjoy your many friendships and continue to value them and value the love they bring into your life.

11.  Carry on taking photographs.  One surprise for you is that you enjoy illustrating these entries with your own photos.

12.  Be kind to your family. They are always there for you, even when you are nuts and even when they say, "You read poetry, you never read me any!"

13.  Acknowledge how much you want and how much you get.  You very rarely say no to yourself.  Start saying yes to those around you.

14. Appreciate what you are doing in the moment, the opportunities you have, the path you get to walk, and always remember, that your time here is temporary.

15.  Take good care of yourself and those you love.

And finally, for at least the next ten thousand days,
       Enjoy every second of the journey.