Imagine people frolicking on this beach. Old friends from high school, now 30 years old (almost) playing volley ball, jumping on motor boats, reminiscing about the good old days. Best friends from high school, former team mates on football teams, lacrosse teams, now grown up with experiences we may not even be able to imagine (like my good friend’s son who is now a Navy Seal, very emotional for me to see him, so thankful to have the opportunity to hug a hero, and say thank you for protecting me), yes,all these friends coming together to celebrate the marriage of someone they all love. Adding to the wonderfulness of it all was getting to see my son from Colorado and his girlfriend for a few days, enjoying a 3 hour drive with them up to New Hampshire and back that otherwise would not have been so much fun….anyway, back to work today, the dust has settled, we now are getting ready for another busy weekend with a going away party for my husband’s daughter and her husband. It seems the fun never ends….and the time scarce. When am I going to write my blog this week?

My husband said “why don’t you just write a short one? why do you always have to write so much?” I realized, he was right. I have these expectations for myself, and sometimes it seems it just never is good enough. You would think I would know by my age, what is important….like family….and sanity.

And so I just want to bring up the topic of perfectionism…..and the danger of missing out on life. I learned a word from one of my students who came to see me for some nutrition counseling at a college where I work. She was saying how she had some Chinese food (General Tsao’s chicken) and then she said ” you know, YOLO”…what is that? I asked….and she explained, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE. Although I did make sure she understood that there is nothing wrong with eating food like that, I really loved the expression. It made me think of my dad, and the day he was told he was now in Stage 4 for his esophageal cancer (less than 6 months to live we were told). He had not been able to eat much for weeks. But for some reason, he wanted to stop at a locally famous hot dog joint (Capital Lunch in New Britain CT). He actually ate 2 chili dogs. He passed away less than a week later.

So you see, it is ok to not always do the best you know you can do. Sometimes sanity is more important. I apologize for any typos. I just don’t have the energy to go back and check. Maybe this weekend. But right now, I need to take another sip of wine and watch the first episode of Blacklist. YOLO.