Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Support Group - Quiet Corner

Foggy Bottom Garden, Bressingham Steam Museum, Diss, Norfolk

Whisper: A faithful friend

Stop Waiting

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another .Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. Then we're frustated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a better car, or we are able to go on a nice holiday, or when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one. So, stop waiting...
until the car or home is paid off...until you get a new car or home...until your kids leave school...until you go back to school...until you finish school...until you lose that weight...until you put on weight...until you get married...until you get divorced...until you have kids...until you retire...until summer...until spring...until winter...until autumn...until you die
There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination
So, work like you don't need money,
love like you've never been hurt,
and dance like no one's watching.

This was written in 1998 by Crystal Boyd. It first appeared in an internet list server called "Prose for the Weekend." Later it was incorporated in Crystals' published book called, "Midnight Muse."

Suffering

A very important part of being made whole involves learning to absorb suffering instead of passing it on in another form.
Suffering comes to us in the forms of pain, frustration, ill-health or unhappiness, and we take our part in the vicious circle of never ending suffering by passing it on to other people in the forms of irritability, resentment, bitterness or cynicism.
But hope for mankind will only come when we cease to do this, when we absorb the suffering that comes our way and render it powerless by our refusal to pass it on to other people in some other guise.
Seen in this light suffering is robbed of its most unbearable feature, the sense that it is futile and meaningless.
It is seen as a challenge, not in a pious but in quite a practical way.

From an essay, One body. By Audrey Shepherd

Alan Bloom's cat in The Dell Garden, Bressingham Steam Museum, Diss, Norfolk