Oscar Wilde said it even better, "His thoughts are only someone else's opinions."
When my children were writing essays in high school, I often told them it was fine to quote others. Quotations were a handy way to fill up space on an empty page, and they always sounded impressive. No doubt about that. But another man's words were never intended to be an acceptable substitute for a child's real thinking. Their teacher wanted original thoughts. That's what I wanted too. I should have reminded my kids more often to think for themselves and express those thoughts in their own words.
I should have done more. I should have done better. (a twinge of maternal guilt still tugging at my soul ...)
All mothers suffer from maternal guilt when their children are growing up, but those with any sense at all rid themselves of such a useless burden by the time their last child goes off to college. I was a slow learner. I lived more than seven decades before I said, "Enough! my good traits as a mother outweighed my faults a hundred times over. I will never feel guilty again."
What a relief!
I now focus on each new day as it arrives. At peace with the world, I waste no time looking back at sadness which could never be resolved. I hear only laughter from the past.
An Irish blessing says it best: "May you never forget things worth remembering and may you never remember things best forgotten .."
email: MelindaGerner
