I recall a conversation on Oprah where her guests included Hollywood actresses Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore. The interview with them went like this:
Oprah: At the end of the magazine, every month, I have a column called “What I Know for Sure.” What do you each know for sure?
Nicole: The more you give, the more you get back. You have to stay open and trust.
Oprah: Julianne?
Julianne: It’s easier to be happy than it is to be sad. Depression is very difficult.
Oprah: Meryl?
Meryl: I know that I will never, ever lose the weight I gained from my first baby!
My wife reminds me of Meryl Streep. It’s in the way she carries herself. Real, down-to-earth and as sassy as Venus herself. But I digress..
This month I turn 40, and in the words of Jamie Cullum’s Twentysomething: “The truth eludes me so much it hurts”.
As someone else said, the older I get the less I know.
HOWEVER! like Meryl, there are a few things I know for sure. So thought I’d rather share my certainties in this life, in no particular order:
Having children is heart surgery. It’s the best form of religion, actually, if you have any form of moral conscience. It undoes you and leaves you out to dry like nothing else on the planet, exposed for who you really are.
Having children means mess. Every kind of mess. But also, the beautiful redemptive work of mopping up.
I love my wife. She is one amazing person, wife, lover and mother. I couldn’t be more grateful.
There’s always something to learn. Always. For example, I thought the whole world would purchase my last album. Turns out, The Great Deep was just another learning curve.
It’s never too late to start exercising. The idea is progress, not perfection. A journey, not results. I was once encouraging a group of small children to touch their toes as a warm-up stretching routine. One particularly plump little guy could extend his hands only as far as his knees, before telling me: “My arms aren’t long enough!”… to which I replied, “It’s a start though.” (Check out Monday Musings for this.)
The deepest faith is about “followership”, not leadership. This is a new path for me, but as I look back on my own story and many others, I think the world would be a whole lot better if we contemplated this idea.
