The Other Side of the Coin — Joy H Selak PhD

When my mother was 73 and recently widowed, she decided she would write a book. The Other Side of the Coin takes common observations in life and looks at them through a different lens, one that is more meaningful and often more spiritual. She asked me to add a simple illustration for the common examples on the left side page and used a 1944 dime coin as the graphic for the deeper meaning on the right. She wrote in the introduction, “The 1944 dime symbolizes the time that I began to open my spiritual eyes.” She would have been 23.

The year she wrote the book, 1994, was the same year my mother decided to change the spelling of her name from Ann to An, with one N. This, she said, was to ‘get rid of some excess baggage’ she had been carrying throughout her life. A year later she was diagnosed with leukemia and a year after that she passed over to the other side of our earthly coin and thereafter carried no more of that excess baggage. I share a few of her wise observations below.

* My parents planted a fast growing tallow tree in their front yard, while the neighbors planted a slow growing oak. After a storm came the limbs and branches of the tallow fell to the ground, while the oak remained sturdy and whole. *** Sometimes slow and steady leads to stronger outcomes and is the better path to growth.

* One day my mother got up early enough to see the sunrise. She observed that at this same time, on the other side of the planet, people were watching the sunset. *** On any given day, and at any time, we can declare a sunset and be done with that day or time—or declare a sunrise and see that same moment as a new beginning.

* When my brothers were old enough to take their first road trip, my dad taught them to read a roadmap and explained the meaning of all the markings and symbols. *** Our journey on earth is a road trip of its own and the signposts and warnings are our feelings. When we have a gut feeling that tells us Caution, Slow, Wrong Way or Do Not Enter, we should trust these warning signs and act on them.

* While driving past a cornfield, my mother noticed that throughout the field some of the stalks were tall, and others were much shorter. *** This is true of humans also. Some are leaders and others are followers, but neither is better or less than the other. We need to find our own place for each of the changing seasons of our lives.

* When people check into a flight at the airport they are often charged for excess baggage and are none too happy about it. *** We all pay a price for excess baggage, when things own us, rather than us owning them. When we realize we are prisoners to ‘things’, we should consider letting them go…like that extra N in the name Ann.