Many years ago, when I was dissolving a marriage and trying to decide whether to leave Houston for Southern California, I came to the humbling realization that I was nothing more than a student in life. This despite the fact that I had been a college instructor and once thought myself wiser than most.

Yeah right.

It was such a relief to acknowledge my student status and the permission/acknowledgment that I would be one for life. That gave me permission to fail, to make mistakes, to be more humble. To learn more from others. To be a kid again. To be more forgiving. Later, as a student,  I would learn prayers of gratitude, and that has become a daily morning practice.

This morning in the shower, I re-read the “lesson” on the Philosophy Shower Gel sitting on the shelf.

It was a little message to savor:

Life is a classroom. We are both student and teacher. Each day is a test. And each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject:

Grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence and the list goes on. It’s something money cannot buy and credentials rarely produce. Being the smartest, the prettiest,  the most talented, the richest or even the poorest can’t help. Being an humble person can, and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude.

The photo with quote from John Quincy Adams is an extension of grace that we share when we inspire others to dream, learn and do more. It was found on Facebook and I wish I knew to whom I might give credit.  In the meantime, I aspire to be a better student in life and to practice grace at every opportunity.  –Roberta Murphy, a San Diego real estate broker.

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Hallmark, you’ve done it again.

All right. You must have known that I suffer from occasional bouts of bumbling wordlessness when:

• Someone confesses to being diagnosed with cancer.
• When infertile friends share they are considering adoption after years of infertility.
• A family friend shares his Alzheimers diagnosis.
• Our neighbors announce their divorce.
• My brother-in-law loses his job.
• Life surprises.

It appears Hallmark Cards is going to allow me my silence, and instead hand over one of their new Journeys of Life greeting cards that shares the pre=scripted words I would want to share if only I could. Hallmark has a collection of 176 cards that cover not only life’s trials and tragedies, but its celebrations as well. The four main themes these cards cover are hoping, coping, healing and joy. That covers a lot of life.

Hallmarks best line? Welcome to The New Normal!

Meanwhile, I’m still struggling to find normal or something close to it.

Note 04/21/2018. Shame on Hallmark. They no longer carry this line of cards, which I believe might have served a real purpose for those wordless occasions. Was it criticism or lack of sales that caused Hallmark to drop the cards?

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