So, girlfriend, the nostalgia is huge. The mixed feelings are both shaken and stirred. The Bronnie is 21 years old and in this edition we remember how things once were and never will be again. In the spirit of coming-of-age, I made a list of 21 lessons I’ve learned in the school of hard knocks.

1. Instead of trying to manage horrible life changes you have no power over, build a set of tools that can help you manage your own feelings.
2. “What you are seeking is also seeking you.” – Rumi.
3. “Our true nature is not bound by space or time, we are expressions of the Is, we are not truly born nor truly die, and we enter this world of Seems and Appearances for fun, learning, to share experiences with those we care for, to explore – and most of all to learn how to love and love again.” – Richard Bach.
4. “Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones.” – Mike Dooley.
5. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Timothy Leary says that everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on a conversation with a stranger?
6. “Try not. Do or do not do. There is no try.” – Yoda from ‘Star Wars’.
7. “I learned that my only purpose in life is to be a full expression of myself.” – Anita Moorjani.
8. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer.
9. You never get it done. The point is not to finally check everything you’ve always wanted off on a list. We all must have desires that are ringing our bells, in order to feel the fullness of who we are flowing through us. – Esther and Jerry Hicks.
10. Taking action on anything is a lot like sailing. Mike Dooley says you pick your destination, hoist up your sail and let the wind do all the hard work. You don’t hoist your sails to move the boat, but to put yourself within reach of the wind.
11. Unless you face your own shadows, you will continue seeing them in others. – Carl Gustav Jung.
12. “If you have fairy blood, even in the tiniest degree, you must live close to Fairy Land, and eat a little fairy food, or else you will always be hungry.” – Robert Moss.
13.  “There is no path. Paths are made by walking.” – Antonio Machado.
14. “Grief does not change you . . . It reveals you.” – John Green.
15. “Do what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Don’t do what you’re not doing while you’re not doing it.” – Kyle Kowalski.
16. You will grow if you take the pain and learn to accept it, not as a curse or punishment, but as a gift to you with a very specific purpose. – Elizabeth Kübler-Ross.
17. Byron Katie speaks about trying to drop bothering thoughts. She says it’s not about getting rid of thoughts; it’s about realizing what’s true for you . . . Once you see the truth, the thought lets go of you, not the other way around.
18. “If you find a why, then you can bear any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche.
19. “The big stories are hunting the right people to tell them. They are forever stalking the right teller, sniffing and tracking like predators hunting prey in the bush.” – Robert Moss.
20. “I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise.” – Dawna Markova.
21.  “Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead, let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?” – Rumi.

These are my 21 candles on the Bronnie’s birthday cake. Let’s blow them out together and make a wish for all of us. What a privilege it’s been to walk such a long road with this very special community that the Bronnie serves and aim to continue serving in years to come.
Angie Kleijn