the greatest lesson

Sometimes life just works out. Most of the time, in fact.

This may seem like the most cliché statement of the year, or even a bit pointless, but for me it's been an absolute revelation. This has been my strongest lesson from Africa and from the past year of my life.

Those who know me well (such as my darling husband) are probably quite aware that in general I've been a pessimist in life. I haven't wanted to give up control of a lot of things for fear that they will just automatically fail without my constant influence. I don't know if the course of my life has taken a turn for the better recently, or if I'm just able to open my eyes and see the wonderful aspects of my life now. But everything is working itself out, even though I'm not worrying about every single last detail. This is really quite amazing to me. The trick is, it works out in the end. The means of getting to the end are often incredibly different than what I'd envisioned.

A former professor of mine contacted me this evening (one of my favorites of my undergraduate career) to tell me that he'd had a dream about me last night - that I was telling him and a group of people that I was happy with the course of things. He said it struck him that I was literally beaming with happiness.

And the truth is, I am happy. Happier than I've ever been in my life, especially with the course of things. That doesn't mean I remember to be happy every moment. I still struggle with being happy. But in the general sense, this is the place I have come to. It fills me with wonder.

Because of this, I especially love my Rob Breszny this past week:

Taurus Horoscope for week of September 11, 2008

After studying the astrological omens, I had a psychic vision of you jumping up and down, screaming with joy as if you'd won the lottery. That doesn't necessarily mean you will actually win the lottery, though. My visions are usually symbolic, not literal. So what does it mean? It could prophesy the imminent arrival of a good surprise. It may signify that your physical vitality will be exceptional, or maybe you will be visited by an exhilarating revelation about the future. To get yourself in the proper spirit, why not jump up and down and scream for joy right now? Then keep doing it at least twice a day until the breakthrough actually occurs.