Eternal treasures can come in small packages

My mother, who is 98 with a good mind, has recently moved from an assisted living part of her nursing home to the nursing home side. When people move to smaller living quarters, they have to downsize. This is the fourth time my mother had to downsize: from a six-bedroom house where she raised 10 children, to a condo, to an assisted living facility, to a nursing home.

When people downsize, they must get rid of “stuff.” Sometimes that is a hard thing to do. I was helping my siblings go through boxes of my mother’s “stuff” (separating the wheat from the chaff) when I came across a small book called “Proverbs to Live By: Timeless Words of Wit and Wisdom.” I had heard some of these before but some were new to me. I would like to share some of these with you.

• “The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.” – Victor Hugo.

This is so true of all aspects of life. Do we feel that our parents loved us? Do we feel that our significant others love us for who we are? Jesus came to tell us that God loves us no matter how much we messed up in life. God loves us unconditionally. We just have to accept that love.

• “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored” – Anonymous.

We all heard the story about the elephant in the living room. Nobody talks about it hoping it will go away. Well it doesn’t. Pope Francis pointed out what 90 percent of the scientists have discovered that global warming is a reality. We must do something about it.

• “Joy and sorrow are next door neighbors” – German Proverb.

We have to live with both joy and sorrow. We have to learn to “shift gears” so we enjoy the eternal beauties of life but we also must identify with the pain and losses we all experience. We can’t always stay in the same place.

• “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often” – Cardinal Newman.

Only living things change. Yet, we do not like to change; we enjoy our usual routines. However, we will not grow unless we do change and change will take us out of our comfort zone.

• “There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding, and that which is lost by not trying” – Francis Bacon.

We all like to be successful. However, we all fail. When we fail, it is not the end of the world. We should be a better person because of the experience.

• “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything” – Mark Twain.

I think that speaks for itself. Honesty is always the best policy.

• “When the fox cannot reach the grapes, he says they are not ripe” – Greek Proverb.

Sometimes it is hard for us human beings to admit failure. We rather play down the goal we were trying to achieve. That’s the “sour grapes.” It’s OK to fail. Just learn the lesson from the failure.

• “Burdens become light when cheerfully borne” – Ovid.

Jesus offered to help us carry our burdens when he said, “Come to me all you who are heavily burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart and your soul will find rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)

• “Wise people talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something” – Plato.

We are not under any obligation to fill the airways with noise. If we have nothing good or positive to say, then “Silence is golden.”

We will continue next week with other proverbs.