Notes from Jan

Still Learning

May 2, 2020

There’s good in being still, learning to trust more, fret less.  I’m settling into the  calm embedded in this slower pace.  All is well until I move too far into the future, then fret turns into frantic. So, I take a deep breath, no small gift, and plop myself back into the present.  Sometimes I have a talk with  myself, might as well, nobody else is around.  I say, “You’re a big girl.  Stop whining.  Trust the only One who really knows the future(plus Dr. Fauci) and make the most of today.”

For me, making the most  of each day includes a lot of reading.  Yesterday, my sister-in-love, Chris, linked me to  Louise Penny’s newsletter, from which I learned a new word.   Try saying “paraprosdokian” while watching the evening news. According to author, Penny, “Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected and is frequently humorous.  Winston Churchill loved them.”

For example from Penny’s newsletter:

1.”Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.”

2.”If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.”

3,”You  do not need a parachute to skydive.  You only need a parachute to skydive twice.”

4.”Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.”

5. “War does not determine who is right, only who is left.”

6.”Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

7.”Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.”

Or read what they’ve written.

Still learning.

 

 

 

 

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12 Comments

  • Reply Linda Moore May 2, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    I always look forward to your posts, Jan! You bring wisdom and humor together in a few succinct words- and I should mention hope too. Thank you!

    • Reply Jan Carlberg May 2, 2020 at 7:57 pm

      Well. thank you Linda. I’m happy to be part of the hope-line.

  • Reply Sue Andringa May 2, 2020 at 2:21 pm

    I like Linda’s comment. I agree! ❤️

    • Reply Jan Carlberg May 2, 2020 at 7:58 pm

      and I like that we connect from Arizona to Massachusetts. Happy healing.

  • Reply Maggie Rowe May 2, 2020 at 2:38 pm

    “I’m settling into the calm embedded in this slower pace. All is well until I move too far into the future, then fret turns into frantic. So, I take a deep breath, no small gift, and plop myself back into the present”

    Good words for us today, Jan, thank you.

    • Reply Jan Carlberg May 2, 2020 at 7:59 pm

      You’re good with words, Maggie, both written and spoken.

  • Reply Dale May 2, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks Jan,

    Truth and humor go well together. One makes the point, while the other makes it palatable.

    For the record: What’s the speed of dark?

    Love you friend, Dale

    • Reply Jan Carlberg May 2, 2020 at 8:00 pm

      For the record, I’ll need to check with Dr. Fauci. It must have something to do with pandemics.

  • Reply Nancy Mering May 2, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    I hope the rest of us will also get the answer to Dale’s question . . .

    And Jan, I’d be grateful to have the link to Louise Penny’s newsletter, please–

  • Reply wendy lane May 3, 2020 at 11:31 am

    Great word! I had to google how to say it. I have to talk to myself too! I have such a good “forgettery” I have to constantly remind myself that God HAS this! 🙂 <3

  • Reply Jan Carlberg May 4, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    As warm weather returns and I open windows, I’ll need to watch what I say to myself…out loud. Don’t want to freak out my neighbors.

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