Seven-Word Wisdom

Clicking around the internet (which is about all I'm capable of some days when Del is kicking the keyboard off my lap every few seconds), I came across an article on the NY Times website (which may or may not require a login to read, sorry) about Seven-Word Wisdom, which they turned into a little contest. Synopsis: the point was to write 7 words of sage advice in the form of 3 haiku-like sentances - 2 words, 3 words, 2 words. The concept was based upon the original by author Michael Pollan, who wrote "In Defence of Food" complete with the catchy edict "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." The winners were:

Read Pollan. Take his advice. With salt.
Make promises. Don’t break them. Find loopholes.
Seek wisdom. Think for yourself. Avoid maxims
Enter contests. Don’t ignore rules. Try again.
Ate plants. A big heap. Still hungry. [that was the grand prize winner]

I found it rather interesting that all the winners (and the vast majority of the ones I scanned through of the 1000 replies that constituted the contest entries) stuck with periods for their sentences. No other punctuation. Had I seen the contest before it closed, my entry would have been:

Hit wall? Stop, look around. Find door!

This comes partially from a recent conversation with Serena about strenuous physical activities (marathons, fighting with foam weapons, giving birth, that kind of thing). I've heard many people over the years talk about hitting "a wall" and then you break through it and get a huge endorphin release/high. I told Serena then when *I* hit a wall, my usual response is to stop and reassess exactly where I was heading and if possibly there may be a more sane way of getting there instead of trying to be the Kool Aid Man. This has been a bit of a problem for me, all my life but especially recently. I haven't just been feeling like I've hit a wall, I feel like I've been talking to one and hitting my head against one repeatedly. Through thorough testing I have proven to myself that I am indeed not the Kool Aid Man and finding doors is a much better way of moving around walls. Brainstorming, experimenting, and problem-solving are my way of finding doors. Now if I can just get the rest of the household to try these doors instead of all the damn wall hitting that's been going on with the very strong-willed children we've managed to produce and the personality conflicts between adults. Interesting to note I'm the only member of the household who doesn't have high blood pressure. Hmm.