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SPECIAL FROM Next Avenue

By Patricia Corrigan

“Be bold in doing the rest of your life.”

That’s what Gail Sheehy wrote in my copy of her groundbreaking book Passages in 1976 when I interviewed her for a daily newspaper in St. Louis. Now I’ve been asked to interview her again, during her book tour for “Daring: My Passages,” Sheehy’s new autobiography.

I can’t wait to tell Sheehy how often in the past 39 years I have heeded her advice, choosing the challenging option instead of the safe one. Such rich wisdom, so freely given in a simple autograph!

Recalling Sheehy’s words caused seven other favorite mantras to bubble up, catchphrases offered from friends and strangers alike that have made a difference in my life over the years. Readers: please share yours in the comments section of this article, and include your name, city and age and why it came to be a guiding principle in your life.

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  Actually, that sentence should not be in quotes, because the woman on the treadmill next to me at the gym didn’t say it. This woman, a stranger, had a story to tell, a story about how a young woman had come into her grown son’s life and completely taken him over, changed his very personality and turned him against his mother.

  The woman went on and on, excoriating her son’s true love with every word. I found myself wondering about her son’s side of the story, and that of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Then I decided I didn’t really care, but I did learn how important it is to love the people our children choose to love.

Read more from Next Avenue:
Seeking your direction from midlife onwards
30 questions to ask yourself before you die
9 timely quotes on gratitude