Emory Report

December 13, 1999

 Volume 52, No. 15

Wellness words of wisdom

The holiday season is here, the new millennium is less than a month away, and now is the perfect time for wellness words of wisdom by which to live.

Registered nurse Dee Cantrell is the district program manager for the state's West Central Health District in Columbus. She offered these "Life Lessons Learned" to attendees of this year's Emory Summer Institute for Health Promotion and Education.

Cantrell told the audience she's learned:

  • It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
  • It's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
  • You can get by on charm for about 15 minutes.
  • You shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.
  • It has taken me a long time to become the person I want to be.
  • You can keep going long after you can't.
  • Either you control your attitude, or it controls you.
  • Money is a lousy way of keeping score.
  • My best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
  • Sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the very ones to help you get back up.
  • Sometimes when I'm angry, I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
  • Maturity has more to do with what type of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them, and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
  • You should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.
  • People who aren't related to you can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't only biological.
  • No matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while, and you must forgive them for that.
  • It isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. You also have to learn to forgive yourself.
  • No matter how long you nurse a grudge, it will never get better.
  • Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
  • Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
  • Even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
  • Credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
  • It's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings, and standing up for what you believe.
  • Everything you say is remembered by the person you thought least likely to remember it.
  • The bad times in life serve to teach while the good times in life keep you willing to learn.
  • Even strong relationships fade with neglect, but true friendships can be renewed by a heartfelt picking up and dusting off.
  • Champions are not made in the ring, they are merely recognized there.
  • I'm still learning.

Wellness is sponsored by the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education of the Rollins School of Public Health.


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