Real Beauty

In a recent interview, Dustin Hoffmann said he would not have been physically attracted to the character he played in Tootsie. Now he realizes his life would have been enriched if only he had taken time to get to know some women who were less than eights on the Bo Derek Scale.

Which raises the question: What is beauty?

A supermodel, who most men would argue is one of the most physically attractive women on the planet, Petra Nemcova, said something in Esquire this year that made me realize she is even more beautiful than I've ever thought. She said: Surrender is a very important word … And I think often in life, we fight things, and we fight and we fight, and we never get anywhere. We just get pushed back. And sometimes just by letting go, we actually reach the destination.

She's right. Surrender is a very important word, and living with a willingness to let go makes her truly beautiful. Self-sufficiency is not all it's cracked-up to be. Someone, somewhere said, A year of self-surrender will bring larger blessings than fourscore year of selfishness.

As Easy As Folding Clothes

Folding clothes is pretty easy. I grab my t-shirts by the neckband, fold them once in the middle; then again in half, so I can stack them in a pile in my dresser drawer. Simple enough.

I wish I could handle my problems just as easily.

Problems can be thorny, though, have lots of curvy sides and take unexpected twists and turns. You may find yourself not knowing exactly what to do.

When that happens, remember the quote from the author of The Time Traveler’s Wife. Ms. Niffenegger said: “Love the world and yourself in iut, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element.”

Do that and solving your next problem will be as easy as folding clothes.

Not Losing

Isn’t it strange? We roll up to a crossroads in life that forces us to make a life-changing decision, and immediately we begin to count our losses. If I do this, I’ll lose that, and I’m not so sure I want to give up anything I have right now.

There are only three ways to proceed through an intersection: left, right or forward. You don’t want to put it into reverse, because that’s going backwards. Choose one of the three available ways you have and enjoy. New paths always lead to new places.