I'm sure some of you may have already seen this.

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 gasp 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 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 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, 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?

You better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

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"?

You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the fun of getting there.

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.

-- Maria (maria9470@lycos.com), June 05, 2002

Answers

My father in law very recently passed away, which has lead me to think long and hard about my life. Ya only get one shot at it.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeeD@yahoo.com), June 05, 2002.

Sorry to hear about that Unk. Ya know even though we expect that our parents will die, it's still a shock when it happens.

Life *is* too short, make every moment count.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), June 05, 2002.

My in-laws are sieze-the-moment, impulsive types of people. Now they're bankrupt. And they still spend more than they can afford.

Sometimes there's a good reason to put things off until tomorrow.

-- (what@i.think), June 05, 2002.

"And they still spend more than they can afford."

Well, living beyond your means is pretty stupid. Seizing the moment says doesn't cost anything. Spending time with loved ones costs no more than maybe a cup of coffee. Writing a letter to an old friend costs little more than the price of a stamp. Adventures in relationships pay out in more ways than the price.

It seems your in-laws have their priorities wrong.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), June 05, 2002.

I have had a best pal for 20 years. Ten years ago we became estranged. It was mostly my doing. One day after no contact him for several years, I realized what a sad thing this was and I wrote him a friendly note, apologized for my past behaviors and asked if he and his wife would care to stop by to see my new house (ie, to be friends again). He answered immediately, they came by and we have been best friends ever since.

And to think that foolish pride could have easily ruined my most important friendship.

-- (lars@indy.net), June 05, 2002.

Lars, how lovely. Are you and your "pal" butt-buddies? Did you get it on when you kissed and made up? ROTFL.

-- (bendover@pug.pals), June 05, 2002.

Lars, that was an encouraging story thanks for sharing it. You'll have to excuse our Dumbya Retardo Friend, on a hot day his IQ raises to 21. Unfortunately, it wasn't very hot today.

-- dr. pibb (drpibb@new.formula), June 05, 2002.

Nice try Pibb, you should apologize to Lars now for your rude remarks when you posted as an anti-repug troll in the post above your last. Unk can verify this by your IP.

-- (you're@real.sicko), June 06, 2002.

Lars, you made me think, I lost track of a good friend about 10 years ago when Dad got cancer and I got too busy. I'm going to call her tomorrow.

Maria, When I had my oldest daughter I had to slow down as I walked with her. She taught me the beauty of a spider web and butterflies and even bugs that crawl in the grass. Right now my 11 year old is bringing back the jokes I had forgotten were so subtle, and showing how innocent crushes and giggles could be.

-- Cherri (whatever@who.cares), June 06, 2002.

Ha!!, Pibb.

You've been collared by the Great Detective herself.

-- Mr. Laffs (ho@ho.ho), June 06, 2002.

Unk, I'm so sorry to hear ofof your FIL's passing. Please give my condolences to Mrs. D.

Thanks for sharing that Maria. I got something similar in my inbox just yesterday:

I had a very special teacher in high school many ears ago whose husband unexpectedly and suddenly died of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students.

As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there. With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said,"Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important."

"Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is a way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day."

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on. So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent - perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches the autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.

Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, "for at any time...it can all be taken away."

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Every once in awhile, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. When you go home, Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double-dip ice cream cone. "For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

Personally, I am trying to focus on the next to last line these days.

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), June 06, 2002.

Good choice Bee. It a fine way to approach life. Try it for a while, you will kick yourself for not getting it sooner.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), June 06, 2002.

There is this hill going from ,y house. With the pain and deaths in my family the past few years I havent noticed it, I looked up and see empty branches, next thing I know the trees form bothe sides are in full bloom and almost touching. They will eventually completly cover the road, whch I think is wonderful. It disturbs me that I don't notice their growth, year afer year, but now I do. Gives me a feeling on continuation.

-- Cherri (whatever@who.cares), June 07, 2002.