do something for yourself...

you know me...i'm all about the reminders...reminders to live life to the fullest...every day...to live each moment...and not be waiting around for when things are different...when you are married...when you are more stable...blah blah blah...

we are not promised tomorrow...and the longer we "wait" to do things...well...that gives no meaning to today...

received this email yesterday...and i've read it before...but...again...a great reminder...

and yes...i'm sharing it with you!

"do something for yourself"
(author unknown)

too many people put off something that bring 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 gas up 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 steve 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 lip 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 stomach 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 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 the 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?
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"

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...

"life may not be the party we hoped for...
but while we are here we might as well dance"