Got through the luckiest day in the century, 7/7/7/--at least according to  brides, gamblers, and numerologists--by helping move my daughter out of her shared college house back home. It was about 95 degrees and three days ago I had minor surgery to remove an unfriendly mole.  So I wasn't supposed to exercise, let alone carry boxes and bookcases. But you do what you have to do, right?.

That's my thought for today: You do what you have to do. How you do it is the interesting part.  When you are called upon to do something, do you do it with grace, anger, resentment, laughter, joy, reluctance? I want to respond with a positive can-do attitude when unexpectedly called upon.

I watch my best friend, Kate respond with a can-do attitude. She moves forward. Maybe she is resentful and I can't see it and that would be fine. But mostly I think she is willing to step up and do what needs to be done.

Okay, here is a unusual way of looking at it. I am not particuarly religious in the sense of going to church every Sunday but I am spiritually inclined. I was thinking the other day about when the Angel Gabriel visits Mary with the news that she is going to be the mother of Jesus. Paintings over the centuries reveal her reaction in variety of ways. I saw a painting at the Frick Collection when we were in NY for our college reunion (more on that next time) of The Annuniciation by Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) and I thought there's a role model: Mary, young, uncertain, tentative but ready. Ready to go the distance.

Check her out: www.frick.org