Life’s lessons

By the time you are reading this, I will be another year older. In fact, I will be so close to the 70 mark that it is really scary — one more year until I hit my “three score and ten!” I have learned a lot of lessons over the years, some funny, some hard, some I haven’t really gotten a handle on yet. So bear with me while I tick off some of the things my years have taught me:

One doesn’t have to be right all the time. It is, in fact, easier when you are willing to defer to another person. When I finally learned that being kind was more important than being acknowledged as being right, I found my stress level dropped a lot. 

It is more important to be kind than to be right. That’s right. Even when I know I am right, it isn’t as important to prove that as it is to be kind to another person. It might mean not pushing the issue or it might mean just dropping the whole thing. 

Loving things and using people is the wrong way to be wealthy. We all need people in our lives. If the things in our lives take precedence over the people in our lives, it won’t be long until there are no people to use anymore. 

Loving people and using things is a better way to get where we are going. The things in our lives make us more comfortable, maybe even happier, but the people in our lives give us a reason to work harder and learn what love is all about.

As I grow older, I realize the importance of surrounding myself with people I admire. Because we look up to the people we admire, we are always setting our goals higher, always stretching ourselves. 

I also realize the importance of hanging out with younger people. My grandparents always did that and I can remember folks telling them they should go to places that “people their age” went, but they never did. They always spent a lot of time with people that were quite a bit younger than they were. It helped to keep their thoughts young and kept them looking forward, not back. 

I realize the importance of slowing down, taking time to adjust my goals and dreams to the changing of my body. I know I will never run a marathon, but that doesn’t mean I can’t walk every day. I can’t do gymnastics like I did when I was in school (I wasn’t very good even then!), but I can still walk a curb some days, and when I can, I rejoice in that face. I can still bake, and can, and even garden and irrigate. It might take me longer, but it does get done.

I have learned that the little things do matter. In fact, the little things are the best because they are the things that make me (and others) feel loved and cherished. 

To learn all of the lessons I need to learn, I think I will have to live until I am about 150 years old. 

Pecan Tassies

Crust

¼ cup butter, softened

3 oz. of cream cheese, softened

1 cup flour

Filling

1 beaten egg

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash salt

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

Prepare dough and press into mini-muffin pans. In a small mixing bowl, stir together egg, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and salt just until smooth. Spoon about 1 teaspoon chopped pecans into each cup. Fill each with egg mixture. Bake at 325º oven about 25 minutes or until set. Cool and remove from pans. These work extremely well with gluten-free flour, too.