Don’t you just love old sayings? Sometimes you wonder where in the world people came up with them, and sometimes you realize that whoever said ‘it’ first was an honest to goodness genius.
Take, for instance, ‘Good judgment comes from experience, unfortunately experience usually comes from bad judgment.’ I wish I could say that I have no experience with this, but I do. Plenty of it, too. Of course if you compare present day me to the me of a couple of decades ago, the truth of this saying would be ‘as obvious as the nose on your face.’
Along those same lines, ‘A person who has never made a mistake has never done anything.’ Do you know anyone like that?
I had the privilege of observing someone like that once. She took great pleasure in humiliating a brand new cashier, who had the misfortune to hit the wrong key on the cash register. Why did I say it was a privilege? Because it drove home the fact that I like being imperfect. And I wouldn’t be imperfect if I didn’t make more than my fair share of mistakes. Perfection is a tough standard to live up to.
And that woman failed to maintain her perch on the throne. After saying-in a very superior tone, “Now aren’t you sorry you made a mistake,” she waltzed out of the store with her nose in the air, only to return a few moments later. Ms Perfection had walked out, leaving her purchases behind. I had a very hard time not saying, “Now aren’t you sorry you made an ass out of yourself?”
‘It is better to be a little lonely than to be a whole lot miserable.’ Isn’t this the twin sister of the last one!
‘It’s colder than a well…’ Okay, that one was something my grandpa used to say. We don’t need to go there.
Some like, ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,’ must be very gender-specific because I’ve never actually found this to be true for me. At least as far as the wealthy part goes. Of course that’s nowhere near as important as good health, or possessing wisdom. Which leads nicely into the next one…
‘Light travels faster than sound, this is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.’
I can’t even comment on this one because I know know some people who would benefit greatly from a strategically placed strip of duct tape.
What got me going on this subject today? Another old saying. One that rarely comes to mind, thank goodness! Because when it does, it’s always due to the fact that it just happens to apply to my life at the exact moment I remember it.
Someone, or something, ‘got on my last nerve.’
Today it was mostly too many someones. And a train that must have been about two thousand cars long. Know what I discovered today? I have more than one ‘last nerve.’ By the time I got home from the pool and running errands, I was ready to start spitting bullets and breaking things.
After warning my family to leave me alone for awhile, I walked into my office…where I will follow some good advice I was given awhile back. ‘Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.’ No, it’s not an old saying. Nope. More like a technique to help you get through labor and delivery. But it’s pretty effective for a number of other things, too.
Unless you have one family member in particular who seems to have an insane desire to meet his maker in about two minutes….
