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 gas up 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 Stevie 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 stomach 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?
Make
sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to
you.
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? 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"?
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
It's
National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you
care. Send
this
to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you,
then
you'll
know you have a circle of friends.
To
those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship.
"Life
may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we
might
as
well dance!"