This is a book by Robert Fulghum. I love his books. They are the type that you can pick up and read a chapter and it totally stands alone. Sort of mini stories in and of themselves. Since most have heard of his, “All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, I have found few that know of his other books such as “It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It”, “Uh-Oh”, and this gem.

A SMALL edit here as I found this when I went to his site, he has published eight best-selling books: All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, Uh-Oh, Maybe (Maybe Not) , From Beginning To End – The Rituals of Our Lives, True Love, Words I Wish I Wrote and What On Earth Have I Done?.” Looks like I have more reading to do. I also found that you can read ‘hot off the brain’ insights from him in his online journal found here: http://robertfulghum.com/index.php/fulghumweb/

My personal favorites within the book is the one where the man is trying to get his daughter to go to the bathroom – a nice big fellow – boots, cowboy hat, you know the kind of guy – the one that no one in their right mind is going to disagree with. In the stall with him is a little girl who refuses to go to the bathroom as daddy wants her to do. Guess who wins? Then there is the one with “Ed” who thinks that it is always Christmas, his mind is no longer working well, the reality of his own life and his early Christmas times, a wife that loves him so much. There is also the first grade field trip, all those wonderful rush of thoughts going back to his own field trips as a youth – finding out that HE is the field trip (that’s right, no typo there)! Or him getting to be the conductor of the orchestra for Beethoven’s Ninth and all that happens with that experience.

Fulghum is a storyteller. He drops these little bits for you to follow into his web and you find that you are captured in his world – and it all really does make sense – because there isn’t any way to make sense of it all – circular reasoning to be sure. But it SO WORKS.

“If I was absolutely certain about all things, I would spend my life in anxious misery, fearful of losing my way. But since everything and anything is always possible, the miraculous is always nearby and wonders shall never, ever cease.”
“I believe that human freedom may be stated in one term, which serves as a little brick propping open the door of existence: Maybe.”

“I once began a list of the contradictory notions I hold:

Look before you leap.
He who hesitates is lost.

Two heads are better than one.
If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Better safe than sorry.

Out of sight, out of mind.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

You can’t tell a book by its cover.
Clothes make the man.

Many hands make light work.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
It’s never too late to learn.

Never sweat the small stuff.
God is in the details.

“And so on. The list goes on forever. Once I got so caught up in this kind of thinking that I wore two buttons on my smock when I was teaching art. One said, “Trust me, I’m a teacher.” The other replied, “Question Authority.”

As the saying goes, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Fulghum clearly has not wasted his and shares it with any willing to read.