Momma Knows Best

What do you see when you look at this picture?  Nature?  Serenity?  Beauty?  Opportunity?  Color?  Good fishing spot?  A place to camp?  Nice place for a picnic?  Perfect spot for a new shopping mall or maybe a high rise or two?  All of the above?  None of the above?  Possibilities are endless I suppose.  If I asked 50 different people, I'd likely get 50 different answers.  Why come (yeah, yeah I know - improper English, but I like it so I'm saying it!)?  Cause that's just how folks are.  Everyone sees life through their own set of eyes.  What's important to some is irrelevant to others.  Advice is like that too.  It is!  I promise!  Keep reading. . .

Not long ago, I asked an old high school friend of mine what one piece of advice she had given her children that she hoped they would never forget.  Of all the things she could have said, she said this:  "learn how to drive a stick shift."  Huh?  At first, I was puzzled.  Not "live well" or "love well" or "believe in yourself" or "always follow your dreams" or "treat others as you would like to be treated"?  Nope.  None of those.  This witty, thoughtful, fun-loving mama said, "learn how to drive a stick shift!"

The more I considered her answer, the more I realized that her response was analogous for something else.  Something along the lines of:  don't live on automatic pilot. . . learn to do the hard thing and you'll always be able to do the rest.  Pretty good advice if you ask me!

And here she is.  My lifelong friend doing what she does best. . . smiling and laughing and living life and lovin' the heck out of it!   Did I mention she loves cars?  Did I mention she can drive a stick shift?

Love you my friend.  Thanks for reminding me that life isn't complicated unless we make it that way.

So that's it for the front porch today.  How 'bout you?  Ever learn to drive a stick shift?  It's not too late ya know!

                                                                                                   ~Quinn