Hopelessely there

Hedwig bitterly regretted that she had taken the course in written expression. The first class had been hell - introductions took all evening because people spoke endlessely about themselves. Hedwig was the last person to speak; afterwards she doubted very much that anyone remembered her name or even her face after her hurried sentence "Hi, I'm Hedwig, I'm a dance teacher, I think that writing is also an art and I hope that I will learn a lot."
Predictably, this gave rise to one question from the trainer: "What kind of dance do you teach?" - "Oh, most dances really". Then the trainer treated them to yet another anecdote about herself and after that, class was over.

The second time, the trainer invited the class to work on a short text to put on their own gravestones. Hedwig politely listened to people with names like Barbara and Fred discussing whether an epitaph should be witty, touching, scathing or simply short. The self proclaimed poet saw a lot of merit in his own suggestion: "To the end". One of the Barbaras favoured something like "She had what it took to take what she had to make the world a better place", but that did not win much support. One of the Freds tried something like "The world's loss is his gain" but was never really able to explain what it was supposed to mean.
After her embarrassing introduction Hedwig wanted to use the epitaph to give her fellow students a glimpse of the broadness of her own talents and skills. However, she found the balancing act between self praise and distance very tricky. She did not want to claim total success but did not want to appear too bashful. She started writing, paused after two words to find the strong and apt formulation, and somehow got stuck. Long after the class was over, Hedwig realised that her failed attempt was the story of her life.

Here lies Hedwig Holstein.
SHE ALMOST

Indig Tips (7)

If you want to kick the habit of always sampling the food while cooking, the best way is to make sure that you always have something else in your mouth.
A useful substitute is to always keep slices of cold butter by the stove; then you can take one slice at a time and let it slowly melt in the mouth. To keep the butter from melting in summer, you can let the slices float in a bowl of ice water.

Good girl

Gail's French psychotherapist kept telling her that she needed to take better care of herself. "Il ne faut pas se laisser aller. You are the only one who is responsible for yourself and your life", was his recurring reply to all Gail's problems and concerns.

Gail went on a diet, bought herself a closetful of expensive clothes and hired a personal fitness trainer. The therapist thought this was a good start, but he stressed that Gail must work on all aspects of life. "You deserve the best for yourself. Why are you living in a depressing neighbourhood?" Gail moved to a stylish appartment and an interior designer helped her decorate the place to fit her personality. A few months later, she changed jobs to challenge herself, and started evening courses for personal development. With every choice she made, she sought to maximise the benefits for herself.

In the end, Gail led a fabulous life. But at night she cried from exhaustion, after all this hard work for someone who never even liked her.