Splendor in the Grass | Chickens in the Road

Sep
4

I realized three things this weekend. One, it’s SEPTEMBER! and in my abundant glee I nearly tripped over nine cats to get the calendar flipped over to the page marked Cooler Weather. Two, I could block the IP addresses of crazymakers who attempt to harass me on this website. And three, I’m a pretty good person and I deserve to be happy.

Some very wise person asked me once, what would you do with your life if you were writing yourself as a character in one of your books? My answer was that I would do exactly as I have done–divorce my husband, move to the most perfect place on earth, and raise my kids in a healthy, loving home–only I wouldn’t feel bad about it. (Need to work on that–I’ve decided to leave Guilt back in August along with the 100-degree temps.)

What about you? What would you do with your life to give yourself a happy ending?

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23 Responses
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9-4
8:25
am

Good for you, Suzanne. You deserve to be happy- no guilt required! You have more than earned your happiness.

Jenawriting - Reply
9-4
8:32
am

Definitely leave the guilt somewhere else, no guilt required.

Jill - Reply
9-4
8:34
am

Hey Suz. Looks as if you have done a good job getting your priorities in order. The kids look happy, you look happy and that’s what matters. You have no reason to feel any guilt for anything. So you just look forward to better times ahead. I need to make more friends and be a better friend to the ones I already have. I feel guilty when someone wants me to do things that I am not physically able to do right now.( I need to work on that one).Hopefully I can do more soon. Take care and have a great day and hugs to all. PS. Tell Princess I enjoyed her post yesterday. She should do it again soon.

Fannie M Wiggins - Reply
9-4
8:45
am

Well let’s see. I’d have a fantastic body that could do almost anything complete with “glittering hoohaa.” I’d be smarter, more successful, and have much worse problems to deal with.

Alice Audrey - Reply
9-4
8:48
am

Guilt is hard to ditch, isn’t it? And yet you have done the best things possible for your Self and for your children. Forgive yourself if need be, Suzanne, and know you are on a wonderful Journey through life.

What would I do to give myself a “happy ending?” Good question. I’m pretty content, actually, as I try to focus on my many blessings, not the things I feel I lack. Ideally, I would want to be living out of the city, on land, and have the resources to do cat rescue.

There are lots of things I *want*, but when I’m focused and in the Present Moment, there is nothing I need. I have everything already, inside me.

And that’s the best “happy ending” anyone can hope for.

-Kim

Kim A. - Reply
9-4
8:48
am

There’s nothing to feel guilty about, you did what was best for your children and yourself, and it seems to me they are really flourishing, as are you. The only thing I would have done differently is went to nursing school instead of chickening out. Hope everyone had a happy holiday and has a great day today.

Leanne

leanne - Reply
9-4
8:56
am

No. Guilt. Allowed. :rambo:

kacey - Reply
9-4
9:36
am

I plan on pursuing my Dream, which has a very happy ending, and I’m liking the journey. :clock:

generic - Reply
9-4
10:55
am

Yesterday was glorious and my parents and I took a holiday drive in your neck of the woods. We laughed looking at the map to see a town named Romance near Walton. We laughed again when Dad was the only one to see the sign for Walton. Coming back I was the only one to see the sign. Mom is still not sure we were really there except she saw the post office and volunteer fire station.

We had just come from having lunch at a great Italian restaurant just outside of Cedar Lakes. The chocolate cake with the peanut butter icing was delicious. The gift shop with the cute onsies for budding WVU fans was fun.

We also laughed together wondering who the great salesman must be for all the metal roofs we saw.
I’m glad you have found joy in these hills we love so much as well.

Susan Wright - Reply
9-4
10:58
am

Judging by how terrific Princess, 14 and 16 are I will not allow you to feel any guilt. Got that?!

Susan - Reply
9-4
11:39
am

Guilt over different life choices weighs me down at times too, but I think – like you – I live the best way I know how, love my family, and am happy with who I’ve become. If I could write (or rewrite) my life for a happy ending, I’d want to end up where I am now, but perhaps I would take a different road to get here – is that possible?

Suzanne, you seem like a wonderful, intelligent woman, as well as an awesome mom, so definitely celebrate your choices – you wrote those life pages just as you should have.

Ellen - Reply
9-4
1:45
pm

You deserve every happiness, Suzanne. And don’t need to feel guilty about it!

Tori Lennox - Reply
9-4
1:51
pm

I would cultivate fearlessness. :rambo: And banish worry from my vocabulary.

Jordan - Reply
9-4
2:08
pm

I would not be so hard on myself! :elephant:

Bonnie Ferguson - Reply
9-4
2:14
pm

Give yourself a lot of credit for not letting the guilt stop you from doing what you felt you needed to do. If I could make a new ending it would be to have the nerve to do things instead of letting the guilt keep me where I am.

catslady - Reply
9-4
4:05
pm

I would love to feel less guilt about two failed marriages.

Estella - Reply
9-4
5:11
pm

Suzanne,

I applaud you for your wisdom and strength to make tough choices.

Guilt seems to be very big with us, doesn’t it? I think women, as a rule, do guilt very, very well. Which is bad. In my father’s family, though, Guilt is genetic, and most of us got a healthy dose of it in our DNA. As an only child, I may have received more than my fair share. Not sure that’s scientific, but if you knew me better you might agree…

What would I do with my life to give myself a happy ending? I think I’m in the process: Trying to move beyond Guilt and Fear, and putting myself out into the world as a Writer. For years I wished, but didn’t act. Submitting the first manuscript to a contest, then to a publisher, were big steps for me. The first acceptance was an amazing piece of validation. (Which could be a topic for another day…)

Magdalena Scott - Reply
9-4
5:49
pm

No guilt allowed. You deserve every happiness that comes your way.

Dru - Reply
9-4
6:10
pm

I wish flipping my calender over to September meant cooler weather. It’s 93 here today!
As for guilt, you deserve to be happy, no guilt should enter the equation.
I am pretty happy, things are the way I like them. (Except for Daughters adolescence!)

Brandy - Reply
9-4
8:18
pm

Mothers and guilt? Pushaw.

Yay for you. Your guilt is all but melted by now.

:purr:

Heather Harper - Reply
9-5
5:15
am

Nothing like deciding your life is exactly as it should be. What a happy post!

Marianne - Reply
9-5
6:31
am

No guilt allowed Suzanne—at least not for long!

I’d give myself more will power to exercise more and lose more weight.

TeresaH - Reply
9-5
8:01
am

Yay for Suzanne! Leave that guilt far far behind.

What would I do to give myself an HEA? Get read of that last 5 pounds and keep it off, grab my family and move to Montana, and maneuver myself into a position where I could visit Yellowstone National Park every day for the rest of my life.

Just those three things would make me a very happy camper.

Lynn Daniels - Reply