Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00643)

Here's something I saw at work that offers a thoughtful but lighter tone
than some of what we've been seeing lately.

-- Eldon

---- anonymous email follows ----

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.

To those I have sent this to ... I LOVE you & cherish our friendship. 

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