maxims

These are some of my favorite sayings, in order of relevance to my present life:

1. begun is half done
   
2. life is what you make of it
3. nature wins over nurture every time
   
4. never put off until tomorrow what you can do today, which can lead to:
   

• There's too much to get done in one lifetime. Screw it, I'm going to go knit, OR
  
• Enjoli syndrome (I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never never let you forget you're a man, 'cause I'm a [wonder] woman) = lower back pain and a disgust with the rest of the sloths that call themselves human

Number One: "Begun is half done" This is a magical phrase, that when put to use causes all sorts of insurmountable projects to melt into manageable mounds of mush. Unless, of course, I use it when knitting, in which case it is a rationalization for buying more yarn for yet another just-begun project that will possibly be finished in the time it would take me to conceive, give birth to, and graduate a human being (from graduate school.) Ah but the conception part is such a pleasure...

Number Two: Life is what you make of it. This is a brand new one for me. I am considering it for qualification in my quiver of quips. It verges on dangerous in that it smacks of the new age idea that we create our own reality, aka, blame game says you lose if your life includes any suffering whatsoever. There's something to the idea contained in this expression, however, so I'm mulling it over.

Number Three: Nature wins over nurture every time. I threw this one in the list because I pressed enter after number two above and a three popped up to replace the former #3 (now #4). I felt obligated to fill the space. Maybe this one would be more reasonably labeled, "I am highly suggestable", but I came up with the nature/nurture one after asking David to tell me my favorite quotes and he drew a blank.

Number Four: Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. This one prompted the list. I was bathing and debating whether to wait until tomorrow to shave. I was relieved not to assign myself yet another to-do to the coming day.

My list of favorite adages shows that at present, I have made a very busy life for myself. I'd say that I've just proven #3 (nature wins over nurture). Even if I won a lottery for which I've never bought a ticket, I would get myself over-busy with managing or shuffling funds or volunteering, or more likely: sunbathing, beverage preparations, and event planning.

We are who we are. (Number three, but more to the point.)