Designing a Life

It's possible to design your life...within reason. First you work with what you have and then decide the next step.

When I was a young girl, I was called "Patsy" and I always hated it. The year I was 12, I started a new school and decided to give my name as "Pat". Of course, it worked. Most of the kids at the school had never seen me before so they just accepted my new name as one I'd always had. Nowadays, some of my favorite relatives call me "Patsy" and I love it. Funny.

I love people. The more I have to hang around with, the better. And you know, your first impressions of someone will never be accurate because everyone seems to go around wearing their safety facade in front of strangers. It takes a little time to discover the person inside and they're usually more interesting than you'd initially thought.

Since my husband passed away, I've designed my life to suit my circumstances. Family comes first, of course, but I've developed some very nice friendships that add immensely to my life. I've learned that the more I open myself up, the more fulfilled my life is becoming.

I think it's been a long, long time since I had much control over my own life and, now that I do, I'm finding that it doesn't take a heck of a lot to make me happy. If you have peace in your life, you have the clarity of mind to choose what else to add to it to make it better. It seems I'm making some good choices because I'm a happy lady. I may have learned late in life but at least I learned.