Today was a wake-up-call kind of day. I was chatting with a friend who was sick and worn out. She told me she had to keep going because she didn’t have enough money to live the way she wanted. The house needed updating, it would be nice to update her car, perhaps a bigger house would be better for entertaining…. In retrospect, working so hard that she was ruining her health, wasn’t what she wanted, but she was not about to slow down.
I asked her to tell me what she wanted, and made a list for her. As we sat there looking at the list, she realised that she already had many items or things, but that she had been so busy being busy she hadn’t taken the time to embrace or enjoy them. They were just ticked off her to-do list and then forgotten as she raced off to achieve the next ‘thing’.
The upshot of it all is that sometimes we are so busy, being busy, that we forget to slow down and smell the roses. To enjoy what we have created. Friendships, social circles, hobbies, and last but definitely not least …family.
Those mornings when you can lay in bed and enjoy waking slowly, stretching your body and knowing you have nowhere to rush to. That you can enjoy a leisurely breakfast and read a book, or the paper or magazine, listen to music and breathe slowly and gently. Sit in the sunshine, or watch the rain…all these things are about slowing down and allowing yourself to take note of your life and what you have already gained.