Stop putting things off

[Tink]

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 the kid
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 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?

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.


'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we
might as well dance!'

[Janet]

I have read this before and it is always as thought provoking as the last time. Thanks Tink, I'm sure there are other that have not seen it before.

[Gina]

I have read this also, thank you for having it resurface it is so true.

[Shada]

This should be my new way of life..

Thank you Tink. Loved it.

[DianaB]

I have tried to live this way. My home isn't my top priority anymore. Actually it hasn't been for years. I decided that if I wanted to do things with my kids or my husband then my housework could wait. Thanks for the reminder.