They’re real and they’re spectacular.

I love hearing from people like you who’ve read my posts about loving life (or maybe just liking life/ loathing life less) before we’re (*snap fingers*) gonzo—and then thought, “ooh! I want to share what I do to make this wild ride of life astonishing/ a little less nauseating.”

Your ideas are real and spectacular (like Sue Ellen Mischke!) and therefore worth sharing.

Here’s an assortment of your ideas/ musings/ advice/ inspiration/ random blatherings over the last month or so:

In response to 12 Examples from Real People Living with Aliveness:

• “My open heart surgery (OHS) date became more and more important to me as it got nearer and nearer. My birthday is only 20 days from my OHS day; I decided that my OHS date is way more important than my birthday. It is my rebirth date. I celebrated the day primarily alone while thinking about all the wonderful moments I had experienced over the past year, both happy and sad, good and bad. And I know that’s my new definition of happy and of living a good life. So from now on very year on May 22nd I will still myself to write myself a letter celebrating another year of life.” –Betsy
• Ian shared, “after reading your last newsletter I climbed to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain in the town I live in and watched the sunrise. Amazing.”

Reader Ian’s sunrise view after his “I’d like to feel alive” morning hike. The rest of us were sleeping.

In response to When Life Feels Like a Blender with No Lid:

• “I call to-done lists Tada! Lists. Same difference but I like the confetti feeling of Tada!” –Shawn
• Mia shared, “I decided to make Wednesdays the best day of the week to look forward to, by ordering in a delivery lunch and then by closing my laptop early to end the day. I’ll go see a movie, or walk in the forest preserve near me or even have a nap. Even if I have to start work a bit earlier on Thursday to get caught up, it’s worth it.”
• Dianne wrote, “I am a bit of a clean freak but I think this ‘hack’ could be helpful to those who would not describe themselves as such – I keep the basic bathroom cleaning supplies (comet, windex, paper towel) under each sink in each bathroom in my house. I have two bathrooms but they are on different floors of my house. It just makes it so easy to grab the comet cleanser or the windex when it is needed. Of course one needs to consider safety and small children and make sure they can’t access said products!  I have been doing this for years. It saves time and makes it so easy to just get the job done in the moment, instead of thinking about grabbing that Windex from a central location and remembering to go back to the bathroom to clean that mirror.”
• “Disappointments and regrets, I’ve had a few, as Frank Sinatra said. But you are dead right, we can’t wallow in our disappointments, we have to reach up, and grab the fruit, not reach down and grub about in the mud.” –Carole

Remember the article about incessantly moving the goal posts in our lives?

• “I think we get to give ourselves grace from always needing to do more (toxic achievement syndrome??). I think we can put our goals in lower case letters and not put all of our Life Purpose and Soul’s Worth in them. I think we can have a drink at the bar and rub our faces in how frustrating life can be. sigh.” –Matt
• “I used to be so aggressive with my goals and myself to smash the goals. I was so unkind all those years! To myself! Now I want to be gentler. Set goals that are small stretches. Not tie my worth to whether I reach them. My kids were doing a 10k and I said sure, sign me up. I walked a lot after the 5k mark and I don’t care. The point was I tried something new, got to train a bit with my kids, and had a great brunch after the race.” –Anika
• “I base my success now on whether I go to bed each night feeling like I’ve been a good person. Have I been kind? Have I made someone else laugh? Did I have some fun? Have I contributed anything additive to the world? Not every day is a winner but at least I don’t feel like I’ve lost when I’ve done at least one of those things.” –Mark

As a result of an Instagram post about being grateful our parents are alive, even if they can be ~challenging~ at times…

• “After seeing your post, I’ve had the patience to continue texting back-and-forth with my mom for 24 minutes about her mail lady’s new baby that I do not care anything about. But then I remembered that you would love to talk to your mom about something she didn’t care about (if she was still here).” –Becka
• “My dad’s personality has changed with his dementia so I usually feel like a punching bag. Now I want to savor this limited time and realize it’s not him, the real him. Now I want to enjoy the moments we’re both sitting and reading, because I know he appreciates the company, even if he is nasty sometimes.” –R.
• “I just called my great aunt and told her I loved her and that she meant a lot to me. She was surprised to hear from me and I also think I made her entire day. It took me 10 minutes. Worth it.” –Andre

From the article Finding Joy When Life is in the Toilet…

• “Make sure your ‘why not?’s’ are more than your ‘why’s?’ on the daily. Like actually count them! And if not, start adjusting baby. You will shift your lively.” –Treena
• “Now I want to laugh at life’s curve balls. By now I should be expecting them, right? And if I can be a little delirious about the things that go wrong (like the plumbing in our 125-year-old home going kaput), I’ll enjoy the ride a bit better, right?” –Frances
• “I have a good cry once a week; I set up the Kleenex station, use an essential oil diffuser, maybe run a bath. It’s so cathartic! I get all my feelings out, identify which ones still stick to me after the cry, and then take it to my therapist. Otherwise it’s exorcised!” –Karyn

After an Instagram post about our passed loved one’s sentimental items (whether we hold onto them/ cherish them/ take to the dump)…

• “When my mother passed, she had an almost full bottle of her favourite perfume, which was Lancôme Tresor. I took that bottle because that fragrance was synonymous to her as a person and every time I hugged her I remember smelling that scent… I took that bottle of perfume and I’ve had it on my bathroom counter for 26 years. I have never depressed the plunger to spritz the fragrance and yet even so over all these years, the perfume level has diminished substantially to almost just the tiniest line at the bottom of the bottle. Nevertheless, there are times I need a hug from my mother and when that is the case, I just pick up the bottle of perfume and hold it to my nose and breathe in deeply and imagine hugging my mom and the power of scent is so visceral that I can literally feel it. So that’s my one and only tie to my mother and it’s so powerful and healing and has endured for years and I think that will continue.” –Sherri
• “I wear my mom’s locket under my clothes, so it touches my heart. I’ve had to have the clasp replaced a bunch of times and it’s always worth it.” –Kimberly
• “My dad didn’t have a lot of belongings, but I kept a photo of him when he was in his early 20s. I had it professionally framed with archival quality photo paper so it wouldn’t fade. I’ve moved with it and I love seeing him in a better time of his life. It reminds me to live it up while I still can, at any age.” –Roger
• “I sold everything in my parent’s place after they died and went on an incredible trip to Disney. My parents never took me there and at least the proceeds from their stuff made it happen in my 50s. I think Mickey sees a lot of happy revenge travel!!” –S

Well there you have it… your words of wisdom. I love hearing from you, so keep sending me your thoughts/ ideas in response to my Monday articles, okay? You can send to Jodi @ fourthousandmondays dot com.

And now? Let’s go live like we’d had open heart surgery and we knew our days were numbered. I’m going to a matinee (yes! On a week day!) and then will make Moussaka for dinner with a nice Malbec (got a good recipe, anyone?). You?