Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Stopping to notice

I was moved by the introduction to this week's Slice of Life blog post.... by how important it is to stop and notice things around us and how our words live on when we are no longer.  WOW! In these turbulent times in our lives, it is more important than ever to stop, take stock of the wonders around you and be appreciative of what you have.  Somewhere along the way, people have lost the amazement of being alive, of appreciating the wonder all around us.  I mean, come on, the world is pretty amazing if we take the time to appreciate it.  We have become caught up in rushing to the next big thing or racing from point A to point B never stopping to realize we are missing things along the way.

I am as guilty as the next person, I spent my time rushing from one kid's practice to the next, trudging through my morning runs just to get through them, counting the hours to the next break in school, and never once stopping to realize how special it all is.  If this pandemic has afforded me anything, it is many moments to reflect on what I have and how lucky I am.  And boy, am I lucky!

I have started to just pause mid-moment to take it all in... I think my kids think I am losing it!  But when will I ever have both boys willingly under the same rough, not fighting and actually talking to their parents about stuff?  This just doesn't' happen... teenagers are always on the go and boys say so few words.  I have been so impressed with the kind of people they have become, so different from each other but yet so alike in their core characters.  They are going to be amazing adults, fathers, and husbands someday.

I have been married for almost 25 years and for the majority of those years we have spent our time in different ballparks, different work locations.... like two ships passing in the night.  Now, we are both working from home (or I was...it's summer) and have spent more time together.  Now, for some that might be troublesome, but for us we have really had the chance to talk, to hang out, to just enjoy each other's company.  I will miss that when we all go back to work but am now really ready for retirement!


If nothing else comes of this trying time in our lives, I hope that people spend the time to reflect on what is important to them.  I worry that we are still all caught up in "it's all about me" ideal that we have had for so long.  It's time to get back to the basic tenet of treating others as you want to be treated.


This is it...

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