I’m in Proverbs. And I’ve had so many tweaks to the conscience that I don’t dare mention them all here. What has captured me most is the pattern that most of them are written in: WISE/UNWISE. He who *does this* is blessed, he who *does the opposite of this* is not.

And with that pattern filling my mind, I submit to you my list of Jen’s Proverbs for her 39th year:

The one who listens to her physical limits finds health and vitality, but she who works out like she’s 10 years younger than she really is will be doomed to screaming muscles, high doses of ibuprofen and potentially debilitating knee injuries.

The well planned menu brings joy to the family dinner table, but Little Ceasar’s for the third time this month causes children to go on hunger strike, but the dogs will be happy.

Find a system to keep you organized and nothing that needs attention will escape your notice. Ignore it and you will forget that your Secondborn has exams the day you scheduled her to have her braces removed.

A husband finds delight in the joy of his wife. She who makes herself and everyone around her tense will ruin every romantic evening ever planned.

Just enough, just in time, will come to the faithful when needed. But a selfish wench purchases above and beyond her immediate needs.

Being on sale is not an instant justification for buying that ridiculous do-dad. Wisdom considers how often it will be used, how many will find use for it, and quality (manufactured as well as aesthetic) before deciding to drop a couple hundred.

Calorie counting benefits the nerdy dieter. But a failure will stop tracking at 7:00pm when snack attacks hit consistently at 9:oopm.

It’s ok to care what people think of you enough to be considerate, polite, and a blessing to others. It is not ok to care to the point that you are not yourself, or you compromise your values.

That’s it for now. But it’s only January…

What are your proverbs?