Monday, June 29, 2015

Lessons from my mother

Mom at 16, nothing but legs,
boobs and attitude.  
My mother had a saying.

My mother had many sayings, most of them memorable, quite a few of them containing the word "shit" or something else that got me in trouble for repeating when I was a kid.

But overall, they've held up well.

Take this little gem, which I repeated to myself a few times yesterday when I started the pointless, "I wish the show had gone better" refrain in my head.

Mom would have said . . .

"Wish in one hand, shit in the other.  See which one fills up first."

Right.

She followed that up with, "The only time it's okay to wish is at Christmas.  The rest of the time, the hell with wishing.  Go do what needs to be done, and if you can't do it, get someone else to do it for you, and if you're good, you can convince them it was their idea to do it."

I believe she first imparted this piece of wisdom when I was about six.  At the time, all my wishing was probably (absolutely) focusing on what I wanted for Christmas.  But she did repeat herself, and eventually it sunk in.

Wishing won't get the job done.  All it will do is make you feel worse about whatever didn't work out right the first time.  Wish in one hand . . . or find a way to do what needs doing.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL
I heard that saying growing up as "wish in one hand, spit In the other, ..." I think I like the version with the h better.

Karen said...

What a fabulous photo to have!

AuntieAllyn said...

OMG, my mother used to say the exact same thing!!! I've never heard that phrase from anyone else!

Connie Turner said...

Wow your mother was a hot babe and sounds like quite a character, I'll bet I would like her.

Amanda said...

"...if you're good, you can convince them it was their idea to do it." I went through 4 years of college majoring in Business & Personnel Management, and never heard anything half as smart (or useful!) as that. Your mother was brilliant.

Anonymous said...

Your mom was beautiful and love the saying. So true and she said it like it is.