Be a Cactus!

Be a Cactus!

I saw this little bit of inspirational advice today, “Be a cactus in a world full of pansies.”

 I have been thinking a lot about life lately. You see, my oldest daughter interviewed me for her psychology class. Some of the questions she asked during the interview really started me thinking about my age, growing older and happiness.

She asked me, what one thing I would change about my life. There is nothing that I would change about my life. I love my family, and the life we have built. I would not trade this busy chaos filled life for anything in this world. The whole truth is that my life is far from perfect, but it works wonderfully for us.

However, I would change something about myself. I would “Be a cactus in a world full of pansies.” I found out in my forties that I care a lot less about what others think. I say what I think, wear what I want and for the most part do what I want. When you free yourself from worrying about other people’s opinions, you become free to be whatever you want and do the things that you have been afraid to do. The one thing that I would change is that I would not have waited until my forties to start really living.

You see, my plan for living the rest of my hopefully long life is to live, I mean really live it. I am going to live loudly and shine brightly. I am going to eat the cake and buy the shoes. I am going to be the old lady that when people see her coming they say, "What is she up to now!" I am going to wear a giant floppy sun hat and overalls and spit in other people’s yards. I am going to sing and dance like nobody is watching and if I am lucky, I will get to embarrass my kids.

So, my wish for everyone reading this is to be a “Cactus in a world full of Pansies.”  Stand tall, be unique and a little prickly around the edges.

PS: I have also decided that after reading this past week about former First Lady Barbara Bush (AKA-The Enforcer), I want to be called “The Enforcer” by my grandchildren someday.