I love to read books and decided to devote more time to reading books that appeal to me. So when a friend at work lent me a book called Shanghai Girls by Lisa See and I quickly discovered I love her writing style, I decided to check out her other books. I'm a devoted fan of the library. It's part of our property taxes so why not take as much advantage of it as possible? So off to the library website to get the books. I clicked on a book not by that author but with a subject that interested me.
The storyline is of German who went to Shanghai as refugees while waiting to go to the United States in WW2. The book is written by a girl of 10 who spends the next 9 years waiting to eventually move to the US. Very interesting and descriptive.
From the book:
Memories are wonderful, and we all have them. They are part of us. But we need to treat them like a favorite picture book that we enjoy looking at, and when we close the book, the pictures stay on the pages. If you let the past live your life, then the present has no value, and the future is doomed to failure. Look at what you had, the fine and generous gifts, be grateful for them. but recognize the new gifts coming your way. Live in the present, take what life has to offer, adjust, and if nothing else, make a memory of everything.
I admit that I sometimes go down memory lane to linger and ask myself the very dangerous "what if" question. Dangerous and useless really... So I will strive NOT to let the past live my life. It's good to have memories, they can help but not to the point that they control everything. I made a New Year resolution not too long ago... to find 3 things that I was grateful for every day.
I'm grateful for my memories. I'm grateful for my health and for my strength that guides me through life.
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