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 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! or Matlock reruns 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 in the dryer. 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 more once 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 day’ 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 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 and sank, 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 =
what are you waiting around reading the end of this =
Grif.Net?
[Thanks to Carol for this =
reminder]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"