If at first...

Remember that saying we grew up with...

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

If falls in line with a number of other phrases my grandparents used to rattle off.  The old adages were passed down to my mother...and they seeped into my brain.  Even though I swore they wouldn't.

A stitch in time saves nine.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Mind the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Don't cry over spilt milk.
You can't tell a book by its cover.
Worry never did anyone any good.

I still remember them, and sometimes rattle them off to my own children because often they RING TRUE!

There is one that doesn't settle in, and it's because I KNOW it isn't true is...at least for me.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Well, next week is my 40th birthday.  I remember when I was 10.  Can you think back then?  Maybe it wasn't so long ago for you...or maybe it was a little longer than it is for me.  Either way, when I was 10...my 40th birthday seemed a million years away.  I mean forty was OLD!  Not just old, really OLD. Ok, not REALLY old, my grandparents were REALLY OLD...they were in their 60's.  But my mother was almost in her 40's when I was 10 and my dad was already there...and it seemed OLD.  I wondered if I would ever even reach 40.  Now as I look back I realize that the adage TIME stands still for no man is true as well.  The years have rolled along, one after the other, almost seeming to gain momentum.  Although that isn't scientifically possible...right?

Regardless 40 has nearly arrived and I have received some teasing and jeers from my darling honey and other men that say... you are SOOO old in jesting tones.  But in all sincerity, I don't feel old.  I feel tired some days.  My body feels the occasional (and getting less occasional every year) pains and aches that come with aging.  But I feel great.  I feel happy in my skin (although I am grateful to be doing some things to make my body shrink a little).  I will never be 20 again!  And the truth be told I don't want to be...the BEST years of my life were after 26...after my darling husband...then after 28, 30, 32, 34, and 36...my five blessings.   I will likely never weigh 117 again and frankly I don't want to.  I have no interest in bones sticking out.  And the skin from 5 babies would be SOOOO unattractive on a 117 pound woman ;)  A nice slightly rounded, curvy 140 will be just fine with me thanks.  I am getting closer to that...and speaking of that brings me to my point...

One thing I have learned is...
YOU CAN TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS...
Or maybe a better observation is... AN OLD DOG can LEARN new tricks!
I am learning to be more patient.  I am learning to be more grateful!  I am learning to love myself, my body, my life...right where I am at.  I am not an author or a marriage counselor as I had once hoped to become.  I don't have my parents here in the flesh cheering me on as I had wished.  But then again, I have truly learned NOT to cry over spilt milk!  What is the point?  I can be those things still in the future.  If I have the years on this earth that my posterity had...there is plenty of time to still be an author, a counselor...or both.  But regardless of whether I do these things or whether life course corrected my dreams and put me on different but beautiful paths...the truth is what matters most is all around me.  I have the love of family and friends...and frankly, I LOVE MYSELF.  My cheering squad has never been bigger or louder!  Yes, that little ugly voice from childhood tries to sneak up on me and tell me that I am not pretty enough, tall enough or smart enough.  But when that happens now, I RUN...and I stomp out that little voice with every step.

This OLD dog has learned some very powerful and very healing new tricks.  And it feels great!

Changing the world...ONE letter, thought, step at a time!