it's a CHOICE man!

In the 70s as I started the long journey to "be" whoever I was. I attended a 'Transactional Analysis' group in Northern California.  It was lead by the wisest woman that I had ever met.  She had to have been in her 70's then.  She was a tall, thin woman with really long grey hair.  She looked a bit like Eleanor Roosevelt.  Her name was Vivian Baldwin.
On one particular week-end I attended a TA Retreat.  Man, it was heavy.  I had a lot of fears in those days, being alone with three little daughters and no child support.  However, I always did what I needed to do to take care of my  family,   (these values were much instilled in me by my parents).      It was part of my character, part of my fiber.

On that particular week-end Vivian told us that as we drove back from her home in the Santa Cruz Mountains to our homes in the Valley to remember this:   "We always have a choice; we can look at the dead cats on the highway or look up at the beautiful trees;  it is always a choice!"

Another saying my children will also remember:

"There were two men behind bars;
They both were looking out their small
jail cell window;
They had a choice as what to look at;
One chose mud;
The other chose stars!"