A Feisty Woman For Her Time

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a woman that not only do I admire her for her outspoken boldness, but also because we have so much in common. She lived in a different time than me, but I think we could have been good friends! She lived 1811-1896 and was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. She moved from there to Maine and then back to Hartford ,Connecticut. Not that it's important right now, but just so you know, I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Harriet was neighbors with another famous guy, Mark Twain. How many of you have been in both of their houses? Every year of elementary school I went on a field trip to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and The Mark Twain House. I was never thrilled to go...thought it was kind of boring since we had been there so many times, but now I kind of would like to go one more time, because I'm really interested. Well, back to Harriet...women in that time period were not allowed to talk freely in public or to voice opinions or to cast a vote. Ugh! I would have had a rough time! I have to speak up and take action when needed! That's what she was like only she had to put it all on paper. She hated what was happening in the country with the slavery issues and women's issues. She wanted her voice to be heard. She loved to write; another thing we have in common. She had seven kids, but  one of her babies died at 18 months old. She was so upset at the loss of her son that she said  it inspired her to write Uncle Tom's Cabin which became a very famous anti-slavery book. She said she could sympathize with the mothers who had their children just taken from them to be sold. I know that pain along with Harriet and many of my friends know this same pain as well, but  Harriet used her pain to write a book that would help make a change in the slavery issue.She wrote many books and continued her writing for about 50 years! She also helped to form the Hartford Art School which was later, the University of Hartford. I love one of her quotes:

"The past the present and the future are really one; they are today"~

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Really that is the truth, we can't do much about the past for it is gone forever so why dwell on it? We don't know if we will have tomorrow so why worry about it? All I have is today! It again is a new day and it is up to me to make the most of it. I hate hearing people talk about the "good old days", saying, "those were the good old days", as if they are all gone by!...These ARE the "good old days" right now!

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in IT."

Laugh A Little

 I met a lady recently that was so cheerful it was downright refreshing! I have had my share of negative people in my life and to be around this lady for even a few minutes was like a breath of fresh air! She was just bubbling over with exuberance and cheerfulness. I thought to myself...what in the world is she so happy about? She was obviously having a hard time walking, for she was using a cane. She obviously had a form of arthritis, as I noticed her hands were gnarled and twisted, and she was having a hard time opening her purse. She went out of her way to ask me my name and just giggled and smiled. I then realized why it was that she had made it to be as old as she was. You see, she told me she had just turned 90! I bet she laughs every day of her life! I know she made me laugh, that is for sure. Even the medical profession has recognized that laughter is beneficial to one's health. Solomon, who was supposed to have been the wisest man who ever lived, wrote the book of Proverbs. He said, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22.  After meeting this very cheerful ninety year old, I started thinking about how little I actually laugh and decided it was time to make a change. Even on the worst day you can take a few minutes to think of something that will make you laugh. Think of when you were a kid how sometimes you would laugh until you cried! Maybe you just need to laugh at yourself once in awhile. Watch a funny movie, listen to some music and make yourself do something goofy...let yourself be silly once in awhile...it is good for your health! I hope that when I am 90 years old I will still be giggling and laughing with all of my old friends and with everyone who is around me...it sure beats being a bitter old prune!

A Valuable Pearl

It seems that every day is filled with some sort of irritation or another. Many are really minor and I keep reminding myself to not "sweat the small stuff". But face it, nobody likes to be inconvenienced by things that irritate; like a broken coffee pot first thing in the morning(that's got to be the worst!), or a frozen water pipe in the middle of a sub-zero winter freeze! Maybe you're just going down the road minding your own business and a tire goes flat! Maybe a bunch of things like this all happen to you in one day! It's got to be a bad hair day too! Then of course, there are much bigger issues that people have that are really major and are no laughing matter. Whatever it is, minor or enormous, the irritation does have a purpose if you think about it. Did you know, that a pearl that is formed naturally,  forms because a tiny irritant gets in the oyster, and the more it irritates the more it actually helps to form this beautiful, valuable pearl? It takes about five years for a pearl to form. Pearls are considered to be very valuable because in the wild they are actually pretty rare. Perhaps I am looking at the things that irritate me in the wrong light. Instead of being so frustrated and disgusted with whatever the irritant is, I should be glad that it is having a part in making me into a beautiful pearl. There is some truth to it . I know who I am today, is because of some of the hardships I have been through. So...there is an upside of irritations. Hopefully, as I continue to age and experience yet more irritations, I will learn to allow them  to make me into a better, stronger person who can have value to others as a rare pearl.