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 would 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 roller blades 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?