“The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

As we rest a bit this week and prepare for the New Year, here are Albert Einstein’s wise words to reflect upon. This year has not been a stellar one in many ways – the economy and world peace spring to mind. New thinking is hard. We need to actively try to spark it by listening to new ideas, trying a new activity, asking ourselves what the new normal is. A long walk through our snowy forest today will help me…

“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other.”

I thought this was funny until I realized that my New Year’s resolutions are about the same each year. So, it appears, I can skip the whole process with the same effect. That’s one thing crossed off my list!

“At 20 we kill pleasure, at 30 taste it, at 40 we are sparing of it, at 50 we seek it, and at 60 we regret it.”

La Belle Assemblee, 1807

We’ll need to add on some new decades now that a paper published this month in the medical journal The Lancet said most babies born in developed countries would live to celebrate their 100th birthday. That begs the quantity vs. quality question. As the article asked, are functional limitations being postponed as well? They concluded most people are living longer without severe disability.

So I think I’ll try to stick with the spirit of the 50’s whatever my age…

“I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells.” Dr. Seuss

Theodor Geisel (1904 0 1991) knew a thing or two about creativity. The Cat in The Hat has thrived for decades due to the rhythm and creativity imbued in its readable words — words suitable for small readers which tell a big story. Seuss was not afraid to be silly. Few adults can say that. Now in a New York Times article titled How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect, we learn that nonsense truly does play a role in fresh thinking. The unexpected helps break down old patterns in our brains. So start your morning off with a little Green Eggs and Ham!

“Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues.”

Joseph Hall (English Bishop, 1574 to 1656)

That’s so much more eloquent than saying “everything in moderation.” That common quote is usually attributed to Aristotle. Also, Hall’s sentence provides a lovely mental picture.

I believe the concept is wise and true… yet can’t help laughing at Oscar Wilde’s take on moderation:

“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.”

August has been full of swimming, visits with family and friends, hiking, play dates, watching our hummingbirds, reading and “deck time.” Along with school starting again, so will my blogging of wonderful sentences!

Age is something that doesn’t matter unless you are a cheese.

Billie Burke, American actress (1884 – 1970)

I’ve always thought that was a great quote. Now I like it even more knowing who the speaker was. Burke was chosen to play Glinda the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz when she was 53 years old. Wasn’t she lovely in that? Never would have guessed her age…

No rest for the wicked…

I just like how this sounds. This phrase originates from the Book of Isaiah where it had a serious meaning as in, “There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.” So literally – the wicked shall be tormented. Somehow it has crossed over into an idiom with a more light-hearted meaning and has been used by authors and rock bands. Now the saying suggests paying a penalty for a fun time.

Did you eat too many chocolate eggs yesterday and are now headed to the gym – no rest for the wicked!

“Forgo your anger for a moment and save yourself a hundred days of trouble.”

A simple Chinese proverb to ponder… But what works for five year olds?

“I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side.”

I’m an optimist. Really. But what are the odds that in the days before packing up the family for Spring Break, we should have a big leak from the upstairs bathroom showering down on our dining room table, one garage door should break, a rare cougar is sighted making outdoor play nerve-wracking, and a woodpecker in a misplaced effort to attract a mate should start pecking on my metal chimney flu while I’m attempting to finish some writing deadlines?

This little ditty is one of the precursor’s to Murphy’s Law. History seems a bit murky on exactly who Murphy was but we all know whoever it was said, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” It’s against my nature to think like that. So I will just add to my To Do list and count the hours until we’re whizzing away blissfully down the road (hopefully from a dry house with our sense of humor in tact!). Happy Spring Break!