vcnewsreview.com
Seven wonders of life - Vilas County News-Review
ABOUT ▼
MEET THE STAFF
ADVERTISE
CONTACT
SUBMISSIONS ▼
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
NEWS TIPS
PHOTO SUBMISSIONS
ANNIVERSARY ANNOUNCEMENT
ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT
WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT
OBITUARY POLICY
PHOTO GALLERY
LOGIN-OUT
Search only accepts letters and numbers.
HOME
NEWS
LIFESTYLE ▼
Slices of Life
Conover-Land O' Lakes
Phelps
Sayner-St. Germain
Three Lakes
Community Calendar
OUTDOORS ▼
Fishing with the Guides
In the Outdoors
SPORTS ▼
Sports Sidelines
OPINION ▼
Will Maines
Byron McNutt
Robert Reich
Cal Thomas
PUBLIC RECORDS ▼
Births
Engagements
Obituaries
Weddings
CLASSIFIEDS ▼
News-Review Classifieds
North Woods Trader Classifieds
SUBSCRIBE
Seven wonders of life
By Jill Pertler
6/5/2018 9:33 AM
select
Delicious
Blogger
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Tumblr
ShareOnYammer
Pinterest
GoogleBookmarks
ShareOnGooglePlus
Tell a friend
We’ve all heard of the Seven Wonders of the World. Most of us couldn’t name them all. I couldn’t, so I Googled and discovered I hadn’t even heard of some. Embarrassing, I know. Unfortunately, I’m more familiar with embarrassment than the Seven Wonders of the World.
Actually, it’s more complicated than one list of seven wonders. The original list was compiled eons ago, in the B.C. years. Most of those wonders don’t exist anymore. Since then, various entities have compiled various lists of various seven wonders so there isn’t one definitive list anymore either.
All these wonders got me wondering. Not about wonders of the world, but wonders of a more personal nature, ones we all experience as part of the human condition. If we were to choose a lucky seven, what would they be? My list is by no means an end-all, but I thought I’d give it a try.
The wonder of trust is one of the first wonders all mini-humans experience. We are created with a need to trust in others. We are literally born into the role. It’s a big thought put into practice by tiny beings.
Another innate and initial wonder is that of touch. Before entering this world, single-birth babies have never experienced touch, yet it brings them almost immediate gratification moments after entering the world as they are calmed by the warmth and softness of a mother’s chest.
Our need to trust and touch one another often develops into the wonder of love. Love is a wonder, not only because it creates a bond linking two beings, but because love can take numerous forms. There is love for the family, love for friends, romantic love, platonic love, love for a pet. Love can come and go or it can remain for a lifetime, but the bond between humans and the people and pets they love is life sustaining, nearly as much as the air we breathe.
I’m a big proponent of kindness so I’m going to include it on the list. Kindness is best when put in action. The other day, while in the check-out line, a woman in front of me left her place in line (along with her cart, purse and phone) to help an elderly woman with a cane who wasn’t able to open the door to enter the store. When the helpful woman returned to her place in line, the cashier said “That was nice of you.” I found the helpful woman’s response simple and profound. She said “There’s always time to be kind. Someday, I may need someone to open the door for me.”
I love a good joke, hence the fifth on my list: laughter. The health benefits of laughter are numerous and well documented. But the real wonder lies beyond that. Laughter is an innate human response. We aren’t taught to laugh; it is part of our universal human vocabulary, and is practiced and understood by people of all cultures. I could go anywhere in the world and my laughter would be understood. Laughter is contagious. It builds bridges between people. Like touch and trust, and it binds us together. We were all born to laugh, no joke.
What would a list of wonders be without the most obvious of choices: wonder itself. It’s a magical word steeped in meaning. Wonder is rooted in curiosity with branches of amazement, admiration and expectation. It is the experience of beauty in the here and now, with an eye for more in the future. Wonder keeps us guessing and, more importantly, hoping.
Finally, I offer you the wonder of forgiveness. While perhaps not as alluring as love or as captivating as wonder, it is a gift we give ourselves because it frees us from anger and resentment that can trap us in an unrelenting grip. To forgive is to live a deliberate life, one where you make intentional choices with the future in mind. It allows you to move forward; to be open to the other miracles in life like trust, touch, kindness, love, laughter and even wonder itself. And that can be not only wonderful, but “wonder filled.”
Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright, author and member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. More columns are available at the Slices of Life page on Facebook.
Submit a comment
*
indicates a required field
Please fill out the form below to submit a comment.
We welcome your comments at vcnewsreview.com. Comments will be limited to 5,000 characters. Persons commenting must provide their full name and email address. Anonymous comments will not be posted. Comments should remain on the topic set by the original article. Personal attacks, profanity, slander, libelous statements and texting language will not be allowed. All comments will be reviewed prior to posting. Comments will only be posted during regular business hours. Phone numbers are optional and will not be publicized.
Comment
*
Your Name
Email
Phone
A comment must be approved by our staff before it will be displayed on the website.
Submit
X
Download Our App!
Get notified on Breaking News!
SITE LINKS
AFFILIATES
AFFILIATES (CONT.)
USEFUL INFO
News
Lifestyle
Outdoors
Sports
Opinion
Public Records
Classifieds
Subscribe
More Lifestyles
The Ada Herald
Bolivar Bulletin Times
Dearborn County Register
Delphos Herald
Eagle Print
Falmouth Outlook
Iron County Reporter
Monroe County Beacon
Paulding Progress
Putnam County Sentinel
Ohio County News
Rising Sun Recorder
Star Gazette
The Harrison Press
The Journal Press
The Times Bulletin
Waushara Argus
Forms and Flyers
Mechanical Information
Media Kit
Rate Card
Preprint Distribution Rate Card
Letters/Comments Policy
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
##LOC[Cancel]##