I have a friend who lives by a
three-word philosophy: "Seize the moment."
Just possibly, she may be the
wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something
that brings them joy just because they haven't thought
about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was
coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about
all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner
that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on,
I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there
will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to
dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word
"refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence
while you watched Jeopardy on television?
I cannot count the
times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch
in a half hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't.
I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I
had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like
rain." And my personal favorite: "It's
Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch
together.
Because Americans cram so much
into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live
on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the
conditions are perfect: We'll go back and visit the grandparents
when we get Junior toilet-trained.
We'll entertain-when we replace
the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get
two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as
we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises
to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we
have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going
to", "I plan on" and "Someday, when things are
settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize
the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for
trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her
enthusiasm
for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes,
and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades
and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice
cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might
as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate
the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and
bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way
home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day.
Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO
list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call
you could make, who would you call and what would you say?
And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids
playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the
ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the
sun into the fading night? You better slow down. Don't dance
so fast. Time is short. The music won't last. Do you run through
each day on the fly? When you ask "How are
you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, Do you lie
in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your
head? Ever told your child, We'll do it tomorrow and in your
haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship
die? Just call to say "Hi"? You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last. When you
run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the fun of getting
there. When you worry and hurry through your day, It is like an
unopened gift....Thrown away... Life is not a race. Take it
slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
