Words To Inspire and To Remind

We all have one. A drawer or a box where we throw in pieces of paper of clipped articles or quotes or notes to ourselves for further use at a later date.  Or at least I hope we all do, lest I be the "odd woman out."
As I was placing another piece of reflective thought in an already filled to capacity drawer, a wad of colorful paper of different shapes and sizes flew out of an envelope bursting at the seams with handwritten short lines intended to inspire. I picked up a bright pink paper folded in four. It rang a bell as I unfolded it. "Must be 4 ft or taller to enter through this door and enjoy the ride. Please keep your eyes open, your mind sharp, your words meaningful,  and buckle up to face the adventures of challenge. Smiles and laughter are permitted.  ENJOY THE RIDE." I remembered sixteen years ago having placed this sign early one morning on the threshold of the door leading to the garage through which members of my family would pass to greet the day at school or in work.
A bright yellow post-it note with "You can't have a positive life with a negative mind" took me back to dinner with a girlfriend whose negativity had compelled me to go to the restroom and write those words as a reminder to myself to not be such a drain on any one's soul as was she that night. That same night I came home to a household already in deep slumber, and in the darkness of the night I had pinned to the fridge "Most people are about as happy as they make their minds to be," a quote by Abraham Lincoln.  Attached to the post-it I found the quote.
I picked up a lined piece of paper with the picture of a realtor in the corner. His face was not anyone I knew. What caught my eye was the familiar blurry scribble of my handwriting that ran across the page and through his name and face.    It was a note to myself written on my way to a job assignment. I put on my glasses to discern the faded words penciled in a mad rush between stop and go traffic on the freeway. "Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow." I suppose one could still use that to re channel priorities.
A few small pieces of paper signed "love mom"  and dated 1998 were paper clipped together.  I recalled the events that prompted these "words of wisdom" if you will.  Here was one  inspired by a teenage daughter whose diligence needed refueling. "Don't work for recognition, but do work worthy of recognition."  This  one was for a pre-adolescent boy whose perseverance was paralyzed by his fear of forging ahead. "If you don't practice, you have no right to dream!"  "And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more," was posted after a long night of discussion to encourage a man to take a leap of faith and expand his ventures.  Here was another that had stemmed from many a discussion of current political events to personal accountability. The conclusion was "The Four C's...Courage, Compassion, Conscience, and Character. How you choose to use and develop them is what makes you what or who you are."
This next one was not my handwriting. It was a beautiful script signed by a cousin who wrote "To learn how to stand up, you must first learn what it feels like to fall down." Here was another, and then another by family members while others jumped up at me through their vivid paper colors written by friends and guests.There were quotes about faith, about courage, love, life, truth, God, integrity, magic and even Santa. These were words of depth inspired by love,  through failures, successes,  hopes and despair, by births and death, by young and old. As I read each of them remembering the person and day and event that led to writing the note and taping it to the fridge, each told a story, and I realized that none could be considered obsolete and that all were as profoundly meaningful today as they were yesterday.  Life's question and answers, the philosophies that ensue remain constant and unchanging in a world where we seek calm within the often chaos.
I returned the scraps and notes with their words of inspiration and life reflections to the drawer. Before I closed the drawer I re read the most recent addition to the pile.
"Know a pity that is beyond myself,
One that cannot turn away and forget.
It rests in sorrow too deep to understand,
A heart wrenched in pain for the senseless loss of humanity." 

A reminder of the lives lost in Tucson, AZ shooting.

This I humbly speak...