READ THIS VERY SLOWLY —
IT’S PRETTY PROFOUND.
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 people
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
Steve 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.
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.
Show your friends how much you care. Send this
to everyone you consider a FRIEND including me,
if you consider me 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 and appreciate all you do.
We have some history together.
‘Life may not be the party we hoped for…
but while we are here we might as well dance !!
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