Mtr Mary Trainor

It is not good to eat much honey…* 

Dear friend, 

I think we live in a culture of mixed messages. Or maybe that has always been true? In either case, we seem conflicted on the topic of success

***

A certain amount of success is laudable, but too much may worry those who love us.

It’s okay to reach for the moon, but don’t get above your raising.***

When my father was a grade-schooler, he and his siblings were told to be serious about their education. Work hard. Do your best.

Daddy did both of those and got a straight-A report card.

Certain his mother would be pleased, he ran home and burst through the door. Waving his report card, he said, “Look, Ma, I got all A’s.”

Her response? “Self-praise stinks.”

 …or to seek honor on top of honor.

Had she been born a couple of millennia earlier, Dollie Trainor’s pithy sayings might have given The Book of Proverbs a run for its money.

“Proverbs” is classified as Wisdom literature, and generally offers tips on how to live a righteous or quality life.

Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control.

But, I wonder. While some may argue that “less is more,” I would argue that life lessons, especially with children, should be allowed the number of words necessary to convey fullest meaning, with repetition as appropriate.

Not to rag on The Book of Proverbs, but simply to surmise that its brief and sometimes cheeky sayings may require one or more subsequent conversations.

Grandma’s “self-praise stinks” just simply wasn’t enough of an explanation for an eight-year-old boy who would carry the judgment of that quick retort all his life long.

Mtr Mary

*From The Book of Proverbs