Are You Stopping to Smell the Roses?

Our lives are passing us by and we aren't brave enough to simply stop... and smell the roses.  We are so busy that we wouldn't recognize the smell of a rose if it slapped us in the face.     We find that 24 hours in a day are just not enough.   Does this sound familiar?  

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my career, my family and most of all my friends.   As I look back over the last 20 something years, I think, where has the time gone?     For many of those years, I confess, that I was a self-made workaholic.   My days were filled with an obsessiveness toward work that I realize now was unhealthy.   I know that those days impacted not only me, but my family and my friends.   Work ruled me. 

I think at one time or another, we have all often questioned whether or not we made the right decisions and wonder how our lives would be different if we had took an alternate route.   I'm a believer that everything happens for a reason, so wherever I end up, I know that is simply how its supposed to be.   As I've gotten older (and hopefully much wiser), I realize that taking time to simply stop and enjoy life was something that I was missing.  Working 24 hours a day is not going to change the outcome regardless of what I had instilled in my brain.  I've tried to change that mentality over the last 3 years because sometimes things happen in our lives that allow us the opportunity to open a window and look out and get a new perspective.    

In today's world of communication, there are so many ways to communicate, but are we still too busy to take the time and do it on a consistent basis?   Are we still too busy to realize that our most important assets are relationships?   I guess I have mellowed as time as passed.   I see the world through different glasses now and know that life is short and that anything can happen.   If someone calls me or texts me, I need to stop.. and respond because it could be the last phone call or text that they send.   We have no way of knowing what will happen next or when our number will be called, but what we do know is that our lives are so much better because of the people in them.

Living life each day to the fullest should be everyone's motto.   There is a place for work, our family and our friends.  It's up to us to make room for all of them.   It takes effort and an understanding that sometimes our days aren't all going to be the same and that we have to adjust and adapt to the changes in them.   We have to remind ourselves that if we don't stop and smell the roses, we are missing out on some of life's greatest pleasures.  

I know it sounds hokey or maybe it sounds unrealistic.   I was once there... in that place where there were no windows or doors.   I felt the world on my shoulders and carried the burden of making it to the top and being successful.  I felt 24 hours simply were not enough time to get all the things done on my task list.  I gave and gave and gave and in the end... I really don't know that it made a difference.   I realized a long time ago, money doesn't buy you happiness and it definitely doesn't define who you are in life.    Once I released the burden of being a workaholic and opened the windows and allowed life to truly get a good look at me, I found a freedom that I embraced.   

I don't want to mislead that I don't still work.  I do.  I definitely work and I work hard.  I still have a tremendous passion for where I want to end up in my career.  I know that I want to enjoy every single thing that I do and I am working toward that goal.    But, now... when my phone rings or I get a text -- I stop and make time for the person on the other end.  I'm now making time to be with friends and share life experiences more and to enjoy the smell of those roses.  My life is healthier now and I'm happier.   I still have challenges (boy, do I have challenges) but, I've pushed those aside and decided to really focus on what's important - my relationships.  

When is the last time you smelled the roses?   Life is short.   You never know,  when, you won't be able to pick up the phone or text and have that person on the other end.     Is it really worth it?  I realize my perspective might be somewhat skewed.  After the loss of both of my parents, within 6 months of each other, I felt empty.  (I still do).  Losing them made me realize that nothing is for certain and you should never take each day we are given on this earth for granted.  Instead, we should embrace it as well as those who are in it with us.   Are you too busy for those you love?