My spouse eyed my journal on my nightstand and asked, “How the purging was going?” I am sure he didn’t think I had been purging, as my career journal is still overflowing with articles. I cheerfully assured him I had purged 106 articles. His eyebrow raised in question, then he asked me if I was saving my love letters for last. My eyes followed his to a beautiful floral envelope. Stuffed inside were calendar pages. The first one read “Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get”. I handed it to my spouse and said, “For you”. I give the rest to you, my dear reader, because it’s been a little over a year since I started this blog. It is my hope you have gained a sense of who I am as a person and the road I have journeyed and continue to travel as a clinical social worker.

1. Never resist a generous impulse.
2. Remember, you don’t have to feel good to do well.
3. Don’t forget the nine most important words of any marriage: “I love you, “You look fabulous,” and “Please forgive me”. (I rewrote this one and mailed it to my spouse)
4. Wisdom is experience concentrated, refined, and made useful.
5. Don’t let people pull you into their storm. Pull them into your peace.– Kimberly Jones
6. If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. – Buddha
7. There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still – Franklin D. Roosevelt
8. The secret to happiness is progress.
9. If it doesn’t make you sweat, there’s probably no progress.
10. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu
11. Encourage those chosen last.
12. Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. – Robert H. Schuller
13. What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while. – Gretchen Rubin
14. Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful. – Thich Nhat Hanh
15. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change – Dr. Wayne Dyer
16. Forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it.
17. Deciding what to do and not doing it changes nothing.
18. Comfort seldom solves problems.
19. Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s about creating yourself. So live the life you imagined – Henry David Thoreau
20. Encourage exceptional students to become teachers.