Keep it simple.
I originally wrote this a year ago, and am sharing it as background reference to a comment I made about my mom’s wish for me in Why Wake Up in the Morning?, which I wrote today.
5/26/23
I’ve been taking it slow settling in here in Vermont. My mom’s wisdom has been with me, reminding me of what’s most important: to be happy and live a good life.
I arrived in Vermont almost exactly a year after my mom passed. In her last couple or so years, when the topic came up that she would pass at some point, she would say, “I’ve had a good life.” Just like that — a simple completeness and acceptance.
Her message at my wedding, and sometimes in cards, was simply, “Be happy!”
Sometimes I get anxious about moving things along — acquiring our land, working out details with our group, or getting tasks completed. I get frustrated and feel impatient with others for doing what they do in the way that they do it.
When I get anxious, frustrated, impatient, it’s these simple focal points that bring me back to ground.
A good life.
Be happy.
When I think of my mom’s view in these two simple phrases, I remember the bigger scope. I am setting up my good life — and am already living it.
I am happy here, and I continue to let that be a guiding focus.
