Just A Few Thoughts

Isn't this purse absolutely adorable? It was a treasure of a find...brand new, or maybe I should say apparently never used...snatched it up for $2.00 at the thrift store. I love it! Isn't it pretty sitting here with the flowers? Of course, I've already shown you these flowers. Little romantic porch princess and I, Mrs. Romantic Porch, (or does that make me a Queen ?;0) really enjoy this purse! I've never told you how I love, loVE, LOVE vintage purses and shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes of any kind! Have I? Well I will sometime.
I've been tagged again by LeAnn at Pink Icing on the Cake to give my life's motto in 6 words. I'm thinking. Really I am. I'll let you know as soon as I have another one figured out. But you know I have mentioned one quote in various ways several times on this blog. "Don't cry because it's over. Laugh because it happened." That is a quote I read somewhere, but couldn't remember who to attribute it to. When I read it, it seemed like a good thought to put into "practice". Well guess what? It is a quote from "the great philosopher", Dr. Suess (1904-1991)! Don't you just love his wisdom on so many levels? Quite by accident, I found out from another person, that Dr. Suess has a list of top 10 quotes. This quote is #4.
Another one of Dr. Suess' quotes that I believe has a lot of truth is #10. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not!"

You know, life is hard. It seems everywhere you turn people are struggling with issues that bind them, drag them down, make living a fight to the finish line. I know this personally. I see this on the faces of people and read it on blogs. My heart breaks when I see sadness, sorrow and pain. It makes me even sadder (I'm using that word Dr. Suess) when I see a person allow life's challenges bring bitterness and cynicism to their spirit. I've heard people say that when you read blogs, it seems like everyone has the perfect house, the perfect husband and perfect children! I have to laugh because I understand what they are saying! I'm so conscious of the balance between real life and what is perceived by others. There are times when life ain't fun, life ain't fair, and life ain't easy. Excuse me for using ain't and horribly incorrect grammar here. Growing up, we were never allowed to use that word...it was considered, um...shall I say "bad manners". And I don't let my children use it, though it has made it to the dictionary along with new meanings for blackberry, RAM and gigabyte, etc. However God has promised us, he would be with us to the very end. I constantly challenge myself to live above the circumstances that may be affecting me at any present time. That is truly challenging to me. I don't want unfortunate circumstances, heartbreak, discouragement, situations that I don't like, to define who I am as a person.

When people see me, I don't want them to see those things. I want them to see a person who lives out this quote from Dr. Suess. "Unless someone like you/me cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I know I can't change everything to make life better for those I care about. But I can do one small thing at a time to bring cheer and happiness...better scoot!...gonna go hug and kiss my romantic porch family. And I've gotta get started on that list of personal challenges again!

Happy Day Sweet Friends,
Love, Rachel

P.S. I had a favorite romantic porch friend drop by Saturday, but fortunately she brought a cup of coffee, the lemonade wasn't ready! Now how could I have slipped up on that? Well...see what I mean...another challenge! It was so fun talking though, I didn't want her to leave. Please stop by anytime!