Although the temperature was still climbing, my husband and I decided to go for an afternoon walk. The new route we chose rewarded us with some lovely scenery but offered no shade to give relief from the sweltering heat.
Part way through our walk I overheard a snippet of conversation between a dad and his young son. They were standing by their bikes at the side of the path. I guessed the boy was suffering from the heat when he said to his dad, “When it’s summer, I want it to be winter and when it’s winter, I want it to be summer.”
This child had just expressed what many of us, myself included, often think. It is so easy to take life for granted and not appreciate what I have until it’s gone. Only then do I wish I had it back.
Does this sound familiar to you? I wish and are both thoughts that sabotage my enjoyment of today. Both of them are focused on a time that is in the past or the future. When my mind is occupied with these things, I fail to appreciate what I have right now.
Recently I unearthed a scrap of paper containing part of a song lyric I’d jotted down because of the impact the words had for me. They said, “Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.”
I may need to rewrite this and put it in a prominent place as a reminder to enjoy every moment. Life is too short to wish it away.