"Whatever!"

“Whatever!”

My mother is 85 years old and is always smiling and laughing.  By choice, she still works full time.  She also volunteers at a local non-profit by cleaning their offices and she regularly attends their Tuesday night meetings.  Every year she dresses up like a clown and holds a sign inviting people to drop toys off at the Toys for Tots location in her area.  Her favorite term is “Whatever!”  Now to some that might have a negative connotation.  “Whatever” can indeed be said sarcastically.  However in her case, “Whatever” is used positively.  Sometimes it’s just a matter of choice.  She has learned in her 85 years that some things can be changed and some things just cannot.   “Whatever”- just go with it and make the best of it.

When she was young she got the dreaded disease of her day, Polio.   Her doctor told her she would probably never have children.  She had 3.  Her doctor told her she would probably end up in a wheelchair.  He suggested she stay busy to stall the inevitable as long as possible.  Taking that advice to heart, she danced her way through her teen and young adult years.  She sang and danced her way through her adult years and at my daughter’s wedding just one year ago, she was the bell of the ball.  Seriously!!  You see, when the doctor told her she would never have children and probably end up in a wheelchair, she said to herself, “Not me!!”  

Every day we make choices about the situations life hands us.  Some things can be changed and some things cannot.   But, maybe, just maybe, the choices you make will allow you to sing and dance through life.   “Whatever” – just go with it and make the best of it because, That’s Life!   

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” – Reinhold Niebuhr (The Serenity Prayer)

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!”  Henry Ford