Building Memories

What do you get out of your life?

Now there's a loaded question! That's why I left it up there on its own line. Living is a sum of days, of hours and minutes. So, maybe I should say, what so you get out of every day, every hour, every minute? If you're part of the go, go, go culture like I am, you're probably freaking out right now! You're asking youself "how can I get the most of every minute of every day"?

Well, that's not the point.

If we run around and do stuff all the time, what happens? We miss the things that add meaning to our lives! Think about it. What do you treasure most in your memory? Is it pushing through a day, or is it the times when you have stopped and looked at what is right in front of you?

I'll give you some examples from my own life. See if you can think of some of your own. Listening to one of my sons talk. Looking at my wife's beautiful smile. Watching my beagle chase after a squirrel. Seeing the trees sway with the wind. Did some images pop into your mind of times like these that you have had? Think of what you were doing at the time. You were allowing yourself to slow down, even for a moment, to make a wonderful memory.

I love talking to my parents because now in their senior years, much of what they like to talk about are memories. Times with us kids, time with friends. Now, if you think about it, many of those memories came from fleeting experiences - 60 years ago! What will your bank of memories be? If we don't pay attention, we won't have much of a bank at all.

I'm not saying that we need to go on vacation to have these things happen, though vacation is nice! We just need to live every day mindfully. "Stop and smell the roses"! You've heard that saying all your life, but I'm say yes - STOP, and smell the roses! Build in a way to pause for moments throughout your day and allow yourself to just "be". Let you mind be like a sponge and take in the beauty that is all around you. Even in the middle of an office or a parking lot, you will find beauty. Honestly.

I follow a great blog called DailyOM. They had a good one today that was the inspiration for this story. Check it out here: http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2011/30826.html. You can find the poem  Take Time to ... by Jeanette Cooper on it's own page on this site.