Lessons Learned

You know, some people are just born lucky. No wait- hear me out! There are those people who could eat their weight in pizza and burgers and never gain an ounce...or worse, lose a pound or two. There are those people who can read a book once- cover to cover, mind you - and be able to site it word for word, down to the page the section came from. (Wouldn't that be a nifty skill to have around exam time?)

There are those people who always seem to have the best EVERYTHING - families, jobs, homes, cars,
wardrobes, dogs, friends, parking spaces! The list is endless. And there are those who for whatever reason, they never seem to encounter a time when things truly go wrong.

Am I one of these people? Do any of the above fit the description of my life? With the exception of having the best family - cause let's face I do - nope. And is that okay? No, it's GREAT! If life was perfect, with no ups and downs, goodness how boring would that be? What stories would I have to tell my grandkids - one sec, I need to pause here to slow down my racing heart. Me? A grandmother? Not yet, Lord Please not yet! I'm still trying to decide if I want to try out skinny jeans. Sheesh! (*Update: I'm a grandmother now!!! Still amazes me...)

Ok, I'm good - where was I? Oh, right - if nothing ever happened to me, in my life, how could I possibly pass on the lessons I've learned to those around me? Or those that might come after me? Seriously, if I didn't have any experiences that would make me blush or anything to follow the phrase "I remember when I was your age..." Uff, booo-riiing!

Life is full of lessons and we can choose to learn from them and pass on that knowledge or stick our heads in the proverbial sand and rail at the unjustness of it all (Yeah, so I've done that too. Hey, I'm a work in progress). BTW - railing gets you nothing but puffy eyes and a sore throat because believe me, the lesson will go on until you learn it.Oh, and lessons can come from anywhere and when you least expect it. It could be the man on the corner who's asking for money outside the supermarket where you just dropped $400 on stuff you know you won't even get around to eating. Do you pass him by? Do you stop and offer aid? Do you realize that it would only take one series of events for you to be standing on a similar corner with a similar sign? Or you could be the lesson for someone else. Maybe you're going through some stuff right now. Maybe your finances are shaky at best. Maybe you picked up and moved across the country or out of the country all on your own. Maybe you reconciled with a spouse who strayed... maybe you decided to go back to school later in life or  maybe you adopted a child who the system had given up on.  You went through all of that STUFF,  yet you remained sane, happy, loving, joyful, thankful and BLESSED!. And just maybe, you went through all of that STUFF in order to be someone else's lesson(s).

Don't believe me?  Think back, those of you who are real enough to admit that your life isn't exactly peaches and cream (and really, who wants that anyway?) - when you were going through all of that (or maybe you still are) and someone said to you "Wow, I don't know how you do it. If it were me, I would be___________" or "Wow, you're a better person than me because there's no way that I _______"
You were/are their lesson. They are learning through your experience. They may never admit it to you or thank you for it, but that's not what lessons are about. Lessons are about knowledge, the journey and the people we can teach along the way.

For all of you who have learned lessons at the school of Mackgurl or maybe you're currently enrolled...YOU'RE WELCOME!!

Peace,
"Professor" Mackgurl