Act III is the one I’m staring down now. I confess to a quiet fear that it will prove anticlimactic. How to top Acts I and II? When I stalk the stage slower and grayer every year? When surely all the juicy plot twists are behind me? And yet, friends, there’s this: The stage at last is ours. The script all ours to write. We do actually, kinda know what we’re doing by Act III. Better, we may still have the energy to get up there and do it. Then there’s the fact that we don’t have much choice about the matter. Act III is the one where it dawns on us that there may not be an infinite number of acts, that we’d best get on with making the most of this one. Which prompts a delightful, nerve-racking question or two: What now? What next?
— Mary Louise Kelly, It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs (Henry Holt and Co., April 11, 2023)
Live & Learn 
Thoughts that cloud my head in the dark…
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laughing. in the dark and in the light for me. 🙂
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yep.
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Yep.
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oh yessss, done that, been there, learned nothing (or too much) – glad to find one book I DON’T need to order as I’m well passed that stage! Ordered about 3 or 4 of the reads you suggested over the past weeks/months. I’m ruined and running out of time; my eyes go weaker and weaker, but I’m not yet using audible or kindle. one thing after the other; use those muscles as long as possible.
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Awww. Audible is awesome.
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Wow. What a wake up call. This one haunts me every day and night. I am going to take this opportunity to bare my soul to a certain degree. Thank you in advance for your tolerance dear readers:
The Universe dealt me a pretty difficult hand from birth. And yet I am blessed in so many ways.
I struggled through act one, and because I worked very hard and wasn’t yet wise enough to look at the cards in my hand, I did reasonably well.
So the Universe laughed, showed me my hand, and sidelined me for most of act two…with one beautiful exception: I was blessed with the opportunity to help my Mom through her third act. She deserved all that I could give and much more. She was precious, wise, and spent her life giving to others…especially to me.
And now I am in act three…hoping I will not be yanked off the stage early. The path ahead is misty. I cannot see very far ahead. I’m playing five card draw and holding a pair of twos and one ace. I have decided to draw two final cards. The universe and I both have a say in what those two cards will be. Am I strong enough to draw a pair of aces? Probably not.
If I use my (limited) wisdom and work hard, I may be able to pull off a pair of jacks. If I am not strong enough, the universe will hand me (roughly) a pair of fours.
It be a while before I know what those last two cards will be.
I am afraid. It is good that I do not have a crystal ball.
——
Thanks for giving me a place to share. I will close with one of my favorite quotes (author unknown): “Be Kind, for Most Everyone Is Fighting a Hard Battle“.
I wish people had the courage to share more of what their personal battles are. My belief is that if we did this, we could do a better job at taking care of each other.
Peace everyone.
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Ahh yes, the stages of our lives and how we perceive them. Thank you for sharing Paul. 🙏
We create our reality.
Perhaps the last cards are only in our minds.
Sharing in a safe space can be transformational. Just naming our reality is empowering.
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Thanks for sharing your wisdom Val. In the rush of everyday life, it is so easy to forget how powerful our minds are. There is much truth in the phrase: “You Feel the Way You Think.“
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Practicing mindfulness… Focusing on the present moment… Cherishing that moment… Being grateful for that moment.…
These are powerful tools, indeed!
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Yes. Now time for me to figure it out and deploy!
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No doubt you have heard of it… I am a fan of the Headspace app. I preferred it in the earlier days when founder Andy Putticombe did all of the teaching, but I still like it. Andy also wrote a book about his early days as a Monk and how Headspace came to be. Title: “The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day”. I would call it a good book. Worth reading, but I wouldn’t call it a great book. Just my $0.02
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Thanks for the tips Paul. I will check both out. Thank you.
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All these perusings lead to: in living, we get the present…. “Do-overs” reminds me of a car that is stalled–let’s stop this life while I try to undo and redo and ??? Peace!
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Right!
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Heard Mary Louise interviewed about this book a couple of weeks ago. Found her comments so moving and so very resonant.
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I’m about 50 pages into the book. It’s engaging. What a life & career….
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And then we come to a point when the analysis and questioning begins to dissolve. We feel some relief and contentment.
This is a threshold.
We can either turn back with doubt and worry about what has gone wrong or what we could have done right from this perspective …
Or begin to open and embrace a whole new way of looking at life and being in the world.
Over thinking will never bring us peace in enjoying simply being.
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A whole lot of wisdom in your thought Val. I need to set it aside and read it again (and again and again). Thank you.
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Mary “Louise” Kelly…Love her middle name!!! and I knew &loved a Mary Louise & her family!!! Esp. her only Son 🙂 (one of her daughters shares the same name!!!.. & my daughter’s middle Name is Louise) the Mary Louise I know…she died at age 52 when I was 21 or 22 (the same age Mary Louise Kelly is now) Both of these women had & have built such lasting legacies. Mary Louise Kelly has the opportunity to continue to craft her thoughts into words, which will lead others to contemplate, grow & perhaps act upon the knowledge they perceive from her on air, commentaries & writing…the Mary Louise I knew, along w/her husband:) built a family of loving children 6 girls & a son…One of the older girls (J) pasted away in an auto accident in May, when I was 17, she was 23 or 24 such a loss…(J) was Joyful, Smart, talent poet & beautiful…Her older sister who is in her late 60’s or maybe 70 & lost her only son in in May, last year…he was 23…so difficult. My Mary Louise, was a head nurse in the Pediatric section of a University Hospital, were she lead, taught, cared & Loved…to honor her the hospital dedicated a new playroom for the Pediatric Unit… her living children carry in them the Joy, Intellect, Strength & Love…She was dedicated to Others…
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❤️
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Beautiful coincidence!
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