In my last post I briefly mentioned the poem below. I think the poem accurately sums up the beauty all around us in the little things…the little moments that we so easily pass by or don’t make time for. Or the moments we miss completely because our priorities are skewed. This ties in very closely to my personal objective in life – “Live each day passionately.” It is hard to be truly passionate if one is overly worried about things that won’t matter in the long run. Sometimes people think passion is all about being loud and fast. But honestly, passion can be lived out just as intensely in the quiet and the still. This quiet intensity was a concept I truly began to understand in acting class in college. It is just as true in life as it is in art.
This poem is the voice of one who has lived life and missed many of these precious moments. The self-imposed lack of freedom to live uninhibited in the joy of the moment is indeed something to sorrow over. To hear one long to go back and relive a life already spent makes me circumspect – if I am not careful I’ll come to the end of my life and have the same longing. So I heed these words now and attempt to remind myself daily…each moment is a precious gift from God that I can never have back. Stop, be free, soak in the beauty, live passionately!
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the “good” living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather rambling about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television, and more while watching life.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment, realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”
There would have been more “I love you’s” and more “I’m sorry’s”
. . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute . . . look at it and really see it . . . and never give it back.
By Erma Bombeck
