Pass Me By!

If looked at one way, my life could be described as being in disintegration. I have no love or marriage, no work, no money, I soon won’t have a car, and it’s likely that I’ll soon be evicted from my apartment. Add to this that I’ve recently become addicted to a certain caffeine-filled fizzy soft drink that reputedly rots your teeth and the lining of your stomach, plus I have stopped going to the gym and I have more or less stopped eating and sleeping, and things could be said to be looking pretty grim for both my body and soul.

However, looking at my life in a different way, things don’t seem too bad. All of the above-listed problems are within my own control, and that’s what makes the difference. There’s an adage which I think you will all have heard – the one that says: “If you can do something about the things which are causing you stress, then do it. If you can’t do anything to alter them, then let go of the stress.” This is an immeasurably sensible maxim by which to live, and one which certainly cheers me.

So, I am enormously lucky in that I have experience and skills that I can apply to every aspect of my life, and it’s all within my power to turn things around. The realization of this is incredibly motivating and fills me with a new optimism. I think I wrote here a long time ago about how I was enthralled as a youngster by Peggy Lee’s recording of ‘Pass Me By’. The lyrics go something like this:

I got me ten fine toes to wiggle in the sand,
Lots of idle fingers snap to my command,
A loverly pair of heels that kick to beat the band,
Contemplating nature can be fascinating.
Add to these, a nose that I can thumb,
and a mouth by gum, have I!
I’ll tell the whole darned world, if you don't happen to like it,
Deal me out, thank you kindly, pass me by.

So you see, life is rich and the opportunities are there - it’s just down to me to grab them. And if, along the way, other people don’t like what I'm doing, I'll tell them to pass me by. It’s as simple as that. We can all make choices about our lives and that’s the whole point – to quote a one-time president of the USA: We choose to go to the moon!

But today, I choose to show you a picture of a beautiful bunch of lilies I was recently presented with. Aren’t they outrageous?