My answer is, I DON’T KNOW! I’ve read too many of them and changing the ending never crossed my mind. I took it for what it was, a sad love story, a tragedy, and or a writer’s warped mind weaving stories!
Besides it is too hot today and my mind is thinking of ICE and COLD WEATHER! I did have some ice but cold weather is wishful thinking as this heatwave is planning to stick around for a while and it is sticking on everything!
Yes, I’m in a bad mood. I’ve had two showers and changed clothes twice and I am still sweating!
Ok, let’s see. If I had to pick one, I would change the ending of “The Legends of the Fall.” Tristan is such a tragic character and he makes self-destructive choices all to his detriment and those that he chooses to love. All three brothers fall for the beautiful Susannah but her inability to be with Tristan drives her to a loveless marriage and later to deep despair and suicide.
I would try for a happy ending. How? I don’t know! Just too hot today to think out of the box. Back to downing lots of water, sipping on ice, and staying in my dark room!
Next question please…..
Daily writing prompt
If you could change the ending of any book, which one would it be?
Having traveled the world not only opened up doors to learn about new cultures, taste delicious cuisines, but it also helped me to see the world in a different light. If I wanted to fit in especially when I had to spend a long time in a certain country, I had better learn to integrate and that included learning to speak the language well.
In Singapore, I learned Cantonese. It was easier to speak than Mandarin. According to one source, Mandarin is a tonal language, meaning the exact same syllable carries completely different meanings depending on your pitch. Hard enough? It was next to impossible. However, I had an easier time with Cantonese and I did pretty well with it. Then I learned Bahasa Melayu. This one was much easier and before too long I was speaking it like the locals! Bahasa Melayu is also the constitutional national language of Singapore.
Later I moved to Germany and I had to learn the language. I was living in a foreign land and had a son to boot. I couldn’t survive on English alone and that was made clear to me from the very beginning. I made up my mind to learn the language and to learn it well. I now speak it fluently.
Unlike Melania Trump who claims to speak several languages, the emphasis being on “claims,” I do speak several languages, more than just “Hello,” and “Goodbye!”
The impact on my life? Knowing the different languages made it easier to get along with the people, to integrate into the society, and to immerse myself in a new culture feet and all!
Daily writing prompt
Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life?
“Time and tide waits for no man.” This timeless proverb means that, “human events, natural forces, and the relentless passage of time cannot be stopped.” Stop waiting and get going is the message.
I was a dreamer, a long time ago. I had my head in the clouds and my thoughts in fairyland! However, I came out of it pretty quickly and made my way as I was supposed to do.
My best advice to someone younger than me would be to pay careful attention to that proverb. Time doesn’t stand still no matter what happens in your life. If you need to stop, do it but get moving as soon as you can. Time also flies and before you know it, you’ll be wondering where it went.
Lost time is just that. It is gone and you can’t get it back. Here is another proverb that speaks to the heart of the matter. Make hay while the sun shines. It is just another way of saying, do what you need to do. use time as it was meant to be used, and DON’T think you have forever. You don’t.
It is time to get moving!
Daily writing prompt
What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
If you’ve been reading my posts, you will know the people who inspire me. The greats like, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Rumi and to a lesser extent, Mandy Hale, Brene Brown, Paul Coelho and too many more to list here.
However, I have also written about my dad who inspired me in ways that I rebelled against as a young girl but later learned what great lessons those were. One other person that I haven’t talked much about is my uncle. He was a man of God, and he was the reason why I spent a lot of my growing up years in the church and even staying there during the school holidays. It was spooky but that’s for another time.
Anyway Uncle Ed could give Ralph de Bricassart a run for the money. I remember the women swooning as he got up to give his sermon. The thing about Uncle Ed was that he was all about God and his ways were simple, just like the woman he married.. He married a Plain Jane. It was love they said but I couldn’t understand it. They remained married until he passed a few years ago.
I remember walking in one Sunday afternoon after a glorious day outside playing in the mud and covered in the same from head to toe. I walked in to find him sitting there with his eyes trained on me. I smiled showing the gap where my tooth was missing! I liked shocking people at the time. The look he gave me was painful and it seemed to say, “This one is trouble and she is not going to amount to much!” A week before the meeting, I had decided to ask dad the all important question in a belligerent way. I asked, “DO YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU CARRY A BIBLE AND GO TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY, YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE?!!” Let’s just say it didn’t go well and he didn’t believe in sparing the rod either! I think my uncle knew about my belligerence and hence the look.
However, I was mesmerized by him. The stories he told were captivating and sometimes shocking especially the ones about the exorcisms he had performed. Let me tell you, if you didn’t believe in the paranormal, you will after listening to those!
He started out as a pastor but worked his way up to the very top. It meant I had to behave like the niece of a well-respected person in the community. I was roped or rather forced into teaching Bible study. I DID! Then I moved away and didn’t see him again until my mom’s funeral. I didn’t know at the time of the service that she had been murdered, just that I felt incredible pain within. Sitting at the front of the hall with my ex, I stared at the casket and wondered why it was closed. Then the pain got too much and the room excruciatingly claustrophobic. I needed to escape but the only route I had was to look up at the cross on the wall. The huge one of Christ crucified on the cross. As I stared up at it, my back straightened and I felt power within. It said, “You can do this.” Then something else made me turn and there sitting a few rows behind me was my uncle and our eyes met. This time there was something else etched on his face. There was pain and sadness, but there was something more. It seemed to say, “Now, you understand.”
What came afterwards was all a blur. The finding out, the rage, the anger, but somehow that instance in church and our hearts touching gave me the courage to weather a storm of the deepest kind.
Uncle Ed was an unpretentious man but there was a power within him that I can’t explain. He walked with God and his life was dedicated to teaching others how to do exactly that. I looked up to him and admired how far he had come and how he stood with both feet planted firmly on the ground. He taught me humility, he taught me to have faith, and to stand tall when life cuts you down to size.
I wonder what he would say if he saw me now? Will there be a smile on his face, will he be proud of how far I’ve come and will he change his opinion of me!
“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”
This quote holds more than a modicum of truth, I think it is what success is all about. Giving up is easy and taking the road widely traveled is easier still. The thing is if you want to be successful in life, you not only have to decide what you want in life, set your goals, and move towards it with “determination” in tow.
I’ve had a successful life as far as my career goals. I didn’t get there simply by daydreaming, I had to work hard for it. Along the way, I wanted to give up because things got too hard but there was this determination within that powered the way and each goal I achieved, I give credit to determination.
“I believe success is achieved by ordinary people with extraordinary determination.” Zig Ziglar
My top tip for being successful in life is not to keep looking at someone who has succeeded but to do your own thing. If you want something badly enough, go for it, work towards that goal, and come out a winner. One other thing, it is never too late so let those excuses fly out the window and you do what you are fully capable of.
“People begin to become successful the minute they decide TO BE.”
What’s a book, movie, or TV show that you wish you could experience again for the first time?
Too many to narrow down to just one. I loved books and I used to read them voraciously. Some days I had my nose in some book and couldn’t put it down. Those days are done with. I don’t read as much as I used to. I loved most of them and Nora Roberts was one of my favorite authors. I loved her play on words and her ability to bring forth a story seamlessly. Or so it seemed.
The same for movies or TV shows. I’ve seen too many and I can’t just pin one down. It is all water under the bridge. Some I still remember simply for its romantic value and others, well, they are somewhere in the annals of my memory. However, there is one TV show or rather a series that I loved. I wish I can experience that one again. It was called, “Army Wives.” I was just getting to know this person who turned out to be just the perfect guy at the time.
We were into this series and we spent our weekends glued to the TV screen! However, there was one song from this series that caught my attention simply because he sent it to me and it spoke volumes at the time. He is gone now, gone too soon, but whenever I hear that song, it brings back memories of him and what a nice guy he was. The only reason I would like to experience it again is to have him back by my side. I do miss him.
Daily writing prompt
What’s a book, movie, or TV show that you wish you could experience again for the first time?
A common misconception people have about happiness is that when it arrives, it will stay forever. Perhaps, that’s because happiness brings with it the “happy” hormones and we forget or choose not to look beyond that.
The happy hormones, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins release a surge of pleasure, emotional stability, pain relief and deep connection and we forget that it doesn’t last forever.
Sooner or later, “happiness” leaves for whatever the reason. It could be just life showing us that nothing stays the same forever and where there is a high, there is also a low. Happiness is not a constant, it fluctuates. External changes may bring happiness for a little while, however, real happiness comes from within.
“A good look won’t bring you the same level of happiness as a healthy mindset will.”
On that same note, money won’t bring you happiness and neither will material goods. It is up to you to create your own happiness.
It is never too late to be happy. Make up your mind that you are going to be happy, work towards that goal and give yourself as many positive strokes as you need to get you there. It is an uphill battle and falling down is a part of that process. Never give up and each time you take a backward step, let determination take you forwards.
Happiness is not a forever thing. It takes work, it takes a certain mindset, and it takes WORK to stay HAPPY!
Daily writing prompt
What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?
It is one of the hardest skills to master and I have a hard time with it. I am working on letting things go without the end of the world theatrics and I have come a long ways from back when letting go was next to an impossible thing.
However, I still have to master this skill. The question is if this skill can be mastered. I think all of us have a hard time with letting things go, some more than others. I know one person who does it with his eyes closed! One day he is in love and the next he is NOT! A cold-hearted person? I don’t know but he seems to do it with ease and to walk away with no remorse whatsoever.
Not all of us are made that way. I suppose life would be easier if we were. Unfortunately, for many of us it is a heart-wrenching thing to do.
Coming back to your question, “letting go” is one skill I would like to instantly master because it would make my life easier, calmer, and stress-free!
Doable? Anything is if you set your mind to it.
Daily writing prompt
If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be and why?
It took a long time to learn that being too nice is not always a good thing. People take advantage of you, they use you, take your feelings for granted and so on.
This year I’ve learned to put my foot down on things that don’t serve me. I’ve said goodbye to fair-weather friends. The ones who are there when times are good and nowhere to be found when you need them. I’ve also said goodbye to the takers. These are people who love getting whatever it is from you but giving is a whole different story altogether. I’ve shut the door on them as well. Let’s see, I’ve said goodbye to a few relationships that never really took off because it was DOA and I just put up with it because of this being nice thing. I can’t hurt their feelings so I have to go about it a different way of letting them down easily. That has stopped! This year, I’ve shut doors quickly and without looking back.
It is not easy to do when you’ve been this good person all your life. However, the journey of self-discovery I’m on has shown me that niceness doesn’t always pay and you wind up getting hurt. I don’t think standing up for yourself is a bad thing. It is needed in a world full of people who don’t give two hoots about taking advantage of someone nice and often you are seen as a doormat if you bend over backwards to please them.
I’ve put the niceness part on the backburner and now I’m showing off my “bitchy” side for a change! How am I faring? It hasn’t been easy and my guilty conscience strikes when I least expect it. It says, “that wasn’t very nice of you!” I agree but it is needed to stand up for myself and to show that I have a backbone, one that strikes when least expected. It is all a learning experience and I think I am still a nice person, just not one you can step all over to get at what you want!
There is a new person in town and she is tough as nails on the outside and soft as silk on the inside. What you’ll be seeing is that outer exterior if you cross paths with her in a not so nice way!
Looking back at my 20-year-old self, I would tell her to stop overthinking, let go of fear, and to live life to the fullest.
Overthinking has always been a problem. I overthink everything! Something shows up on my radar and there I go! I grab it, mull over it, refuse to let it go, and spend days, months or even longer on it. I think that spending time with whatever it is helps the problem to dissipate or to make it less than what it is and that is not the case. I would tell my 20-year-old self to TAKE IT EASY! Not everything needs your undivided attention and sometimes it is better to let it go or to leave it where it is and to move on.
Fear has always been a constant companion so I would tell her that she doesn’t have to be fearful of everything. Fear stops you from achieving a lot of things and makes your life a miserable existence. It’s okay to be fearful but not all the time. It’s alright to be careful, to be cautious, and to know what could go wrong BUT let go or rather stop letting fear take the reins and take you for a ride!
Living life to the fullest is not easy and if you have “overthinking” and “fear” directing the way, it is next to impossible to do. Let go of the aforementioned two and you might just have a chance at living a life that is fulfilling, fun, and filled with whatever you want to achieve.
I was naive at 20 and it took a long time for me to find my way. Having my head in the clouds didn’t help either. Know what you want, aim for it, and know that life is short so do the best you can. Dream but not all the time and as far as love, do not chase! It will show up when the time is right. Be patient!
Daily writing prompt
What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?
