Tormenting Ourselves

I'm still thinking about the movie, Little Manhattan (see my post below).

In one scene, Gabe wonders, just by looking across the karate classroom at Rosemary's face, if Rosemary is mad at him for something he did. Her lips smile a little, and Gabe thinks, "She loves me." She turns and frowns just a tad and he fears, "She loves me not." Gabe's anxious, worried mind goes back and forth and back and forth--she loves me, she loves me not--just by trying to read Rosemary's teensiest facial movements.

Boy, did that bring back memories of a few decades of torturing myself by trying to second-guess people, instead of just applying good ol' communication.

We do it to ourselves. We way too often torture ourselves.

We wonder if people are mad at us, yet we're afraid to simply ask. Or we go ahead and ask, and then doubt or analyze the answer if it was, "No, I'm not mad at you."

Or we base how we feel about ourselves upon how others appear to feel about us, when it would have been much better to just go to God and ask Him, "How do you think I'm doing?"

Or we stop loving ourselves if someone else stops loving us... instead of remembering, always, we have a friend in God--the lover of our souls. 

Probably most of the time? We believe others are tormenting us, when it's we, ourselves, who are allowing anxious, torturing thoughts to spin inside our aching heads.

Why I'm loving my 40's? On most days, I'm at peace with myself and God. I'm not analyzing people and things to death or giving myself headaches by trying to run my own life.

There was a better way all along! But not until my 40's did I discover it  and oh, how good Life feels now.



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LIttle Manhattan

Oh my... Weeks ago, I heard Tony Danza recommend the movie, Little Manhattan, and someone else did, too--someone in my comment box. And well, I'd been waiting (im)patiently to see it. So finally Tom and I watched it tonight and--

WHAT A CUTE MOVIE!

Positively, absolutely adorable. Highly, highly recommended,with no reservations or warnings.... that is, if you like sappy sentimental when it works.

And in this movie, sappy sentimental does work. Big time.

It was a little like the old tv series, Wonder Years, though sweeter. It was like reliving the awkward, painful years of your childhood--and being reminded of how good it feels to finally grow-up.

Four thumbs up! Tom and I both loved it. We laughed and cried through the whole thing like the babies at heart that we are.

The Stuff You'll Find On My Streets

You may not believe this (but it's true anyway)--- we found all these things out on the streets on various trash days. 

Yes, it's sad that we've become such a throw-away society, but on the other hand, sometimes that makes it nice for the rest of us.  シ

We discovered this mirror and the little clock on top.
We found this chair in even nicer shape than shown here.



The 

wardrobe closet (above left) is so old that it has square-headed nails. I made a hutch (above right) from two pieces we found at different curbs.

We found this wrought-iron corner post and most of the dried flowers on it, too.

Kind-of amazing, huh? Just goes to show, you never know what a day will hold. A day spent with God can mean surprises of all kinds, especially if we keep our eyes open and our hearts full of faith that good things can happen, even on ordinary days.