Life Lessons/Reminders, So Far, in January

--Your healthy lifestyle practices are still there, awaiting your return.  Your muscles haven't gotten as flabby as you fear.  You can forsake cookies for breakfast--go back to smoothies or porridge!  You'll remember how to like vegetables.

--Your creative practices wait for you too.  Begin again.  Write the stanza, write the sentence.  Build.

--What you fear may not come to pass.

--Even if what you fear does come to pass, it likely won't be as bad as you imagined.  You may have odd moments or whole days of comfort.

--If you ache with loss, a brief cry is a surprisingly refreshing way to deal with those emotions.

--The car is a fine and private place to have that brief cry.

--It's not a good idea to evaluate your life's progress when playing music from your wayward youth.

--Re-evaluating your life while putting away the Christmas decorations to music of your wayward youth poses particular hazards.

--Re-evaluating your life while putting away the Christmas ornaments while your spouse is playing old Air Supply songs is particularly deadly.

--Why is your spouse listening to horrible pop music from the 80's?  Didn't you cement your relationship early on with your hatred of 80's pippy-poppy music?

--Some mysteries cannot be explained, and we must be content to leave them as mysteries.

--It is good to remember that life could be worse.  You are not on a sinking cruise ship whose captain decided to take a different route.  If your body parts are all working relatively well, you've got good fortune that many people cannot take for granted.  If you've still got people you love on this side of the grave, then you are not alone and desolate.