Words To Live By

The past couple days have been rather interesting for me. I have been working for an exhibitor at the Women's Wear In Nevada trade show. I have been modeling and selling dresses from a clothing line out of New York called Raiment Fashions. The cutest 65 year old woman from India owns the line. Today during a lull in the show we started talking about life and the different things that happen to us as we get older. Mrs. Puri gave me some really great advice that I just have to share.

"You have to be very tactful in life to be successful in life."

"When life has a little pain or a little anything, remember there's something good behind it."

"Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, seasons never stay forever so happiness and unhappiness doesn't stay forever. If you can stay steady through the happiness and unhappiness then you have conquered yourself. So if unhappiness comes, remember happiness isn't far away."

"Don't run after something you don't have and may never have. You'll keep running and and it'll keep moving forward. Enjoy what you have right now otherwise you won't enjoy right now and the future will never be in your hand."

"Let it come as it comes. The God who gives you life will take care of you. You just keep working, doing your best. Don't fight against it."

"The music of life is never without a chord of pain."

"If you think life is going to be smooth, you're absolutely wrong."

"Once you show peace of mind and contentment you'll have the whole world eating out of your hand."

"Stop expecting anything in life. You'll always get disappointed."

"Just keep thinking 'If it's mine it'll come but I'll do my work to collect it. If I get it, fine. If I don't, fine. It'll all be okay."

"Every day is a learning experience. The day you stop learning is the day you stop living."

"Never reply immediately. Always say 'Let me think. I'll let you know'. "

"Give it time. If you're angry you have to get it out of your system so write it down on a piece of paper and read it in 2 days. You'll see what a foolish thing you wrote."

"Be content with yourself and remember you're your best friend. You can make yourself happy or you can make yourself miserable."

"Life is a boomerang. If you give love you get love. If you throw a dish you'll get a dish thrown back at you."

After a couple minutes of discussing life, Mrs. Puri decided to shower pearls of wisdom upon me in the form of relationship advice. Since she's been married for over 40 years she felt she had adequate experience to be giving out advice on the matter.

"Why are you banging your head against the wall? Stay away from the wall. Let things fall on their own. By banging your head on the wall you're not going to get anything except pain."

"Love is not a measuring cup."

"You might fight each other, bash each other's heads, but never walk out on each other."

"You're not perfect. Why are you expecting the other person to be perfect?"

"In this country it's "I, I, I". Why not 'We, we, we"? We are one."

"Compromise is the key to a good relationship."

"Why are you talking about material things? Make it about love."

"Accept them as they are. Don't try to change them. Change yourself."

"You have to work things out. Communication is the most important thing."

"Love is like war and peace. When 2 countries get together they have to work things out. Be a diplomat."

"Stop thinking about 'He isn't thinking about me' or 'He doesn't miss me'. You're just punishing yourself. Be happy. Be your own best friend. Don't think 'He's not doing this so I'm not going to talk to him'. You're punishing yourself again. If you want to call him, call him. Be happy and he will get the vibes and he will follow."

"You like him, you have to be tactful and work around it."

"Change their thinking. Be strong in your character."

"When you do get married and you have children you might fight in front of the children. That's natural but never let the child talk back to you or your husband."

"No matter how wrong your husband is, never tell him in front of your children. That's the biggest mistake you'll make."

"Give your children unconditional love. Always tell them 'I love you' no matter what comes."

"You can go through good times and bad times but never walk out on each other."

"If he doesn't treat you right then he doesn't deserve you. Maybe there's another Mr. Right out there for you. If he's yours he'll come back, if he's not he won't."

I think some of this advice is helpful to just about anyone. We can all learn from those who have lived and gone through all of life's great experiences.

Love Remembers

You can forget what love was wearing when it walked out your front door, where you fell down to your knees. You can forget the kind of suitcase that was packed out on the sidewalk while you cried there begging please, but love remembers...Love remembers the smell of a summer day, lying in a hammock over fresh cut grass, and the promise of forever...Love remembers the sound of a pouring rain beating down on the top of the car on the side of the road where it cut away...

Craig Morgan has an amazing voice and his songs seem to say it just right. This song rings true for everyone who has ever been in a relationship that has come to an end. Of course, what love remembers is different for each of us. For me, love remembers airport terminals, turning to see him walking toward me in his BDUs, being picked up, spun around, then kissed for everyone to see, the smell of snow, horseback riding on a clear winter morning, the plans we made, the feel of his fingertips on my face, the rumble of an old beloved rusted truck, the taste of his kiss, watching him get ready for work and being so proud of him as he stood there in uniform, driving around base and seeing his world, daisies, smelling his cologne as I drifted off to sleep wearing his sweatshirt, the oddest chocolate cake I have ever made, and being thrown over his shoulder and carried across a parkling lot.

Why is it that love never remembers the fighting, anger, tears, stress, frustration and hurt that culminated in the end of the relationship? Why doesn't love remember all the awful things that were said and the hurtful things that were done? Why can't love remember all the things that happened when it was over that made you glad they were gone? Why won't love remember that you shouldn't miss them?

What does love remember for you?