The Better Version

The 'Fugee is not on Instagram and neither is my cousin, Chiquita, for that that matter so I often send them 'grams that I find moving. The 'Fugee's response to the one below. My friend...loves this. She's right. I love "this" kind of stuff...

“I was born in a refugee camp in Nepal and grew up there until I was 12. A lot of people in the camp weren’t super wealthy, but we had to do whatever it took to figure it out. You’d go to school where there were no teachers. You’d go to hospitals where there weren’t enough doctors. One thing I see here is that people are so focused on being dependent or independent. But there, it was more about how can we be interdependent and how we can work together to accomplish one goal. That is one thing I still try to focus on. The view was, society does not have to dictate and condition who I am. I want to define for myself what is real and okay and go with my gut. The real fight is not about you versus society or you versus nature. The real fight is you versus the better version of you."

A photo posted by Humans of St. Louis (@humans_of_stl) on Oct 13, 2016 at 11:57am PDT

I had no biking companion today so I decided to go to Zumba then to the bra shop because I couldn't make it to the bra shop during the week.

Went home and took a shower then headed out. Knew that it wasn't a good sign when I saw a note on the door. The owner had closed the store earlier than the dates she'd posted on her Facebook page. That was disappointing.

Found myself remembering the words of my play mother who happened to be at the airport as my aunt and I were headed to Las Vegas one year. My play mother lost her daughter in a freak accident and I will never forget what she said at the airport -- We're all going through something; I just try to keep my face off the floor...

Just an hour earlier, post-Zumba high intact, I had been quite happy. Situations don't always align the way that you want them to and that's that...

All Smiles After Zumba

And here's one more 'gram.

embracing your weirdness:  my daughter mentioned to her mimi (my mom) that sometimes the kids at school call her weird. char has always marched to the beat of her own drum, so i wasn't surprised when she said "but i don't care. because i am unique and different and people love me for who i am, anyway." so, may we all learn from my almost 9 year old that staying weird is cool. and having confidence about being different is a positive, not a negative. because there are people who'll take you as you are and love you anyway.

A photo posted by alexandra (@alex_elle) on Oct 14, 2016 at 10:25am PDT

(More) Stuff People Say To Me

We all have something going on. I just try to keep my face off the floor., Onetime play mother that I unexpectedly ran into.

It's always good. If it's not good, I'll make it good., A colleague

My friend (Lori): Why do you have a bottle of cooking wine in your bedroom?

Me: Because it didn't make it to the pantry????????

Cousin: Are you still working out seven days a week?

Me: I rest on Friday.

Cousin: So this has become a way of life?

Me: Yes.

Bosnian one: I feel bad that you are not taking anything (sweet).

Bosnian two: See what you're doing to these Bosnians?

You got them in and that's what counts.

Swimming lane neighbor about my 20 slow laps.

I was waiting for you., Lifeguard

The last time I had seen the guard, my quiet entrance made her jump about three feet in the air.

Anonymous: I had a therapeutic massage.

Me: Silent but wondering about the emphasis on therapeutic...

Colleague: I would love to take a couple of weeks off.

Me: What would you do?

Colleague: I would clean, play with my dog, read, make yogurt.

Me: I have news for you; everyone wants those same two weeks off. I would skip the yogurt part though.

Your back is bigger. Is that from swimming? Rock climbing?, My Mother

Did anyone see Please Give? There's this one character who makes snide remarks about her ex's girlfriend and she's fond of mentioning that the new girlfriend has a big back which caught my attention because I've always had a big back and it is probably bigger now. But who cares? It works fabulously...