Life is Best Lived One Day at a Time

It’s too hot!  It’s too cold!  You certainly can’t make everyone happy all the time.  Some of us hearty New Englanders enjoy complaining, and we know that misery loves company.  I’m just glad those people all live somewhere else. 

I recently saw that a friend had posted a picture on Facebook of himself grilling some food and commented, “enjoy summer now, as it’s almost over.”  As I write this in mid-August, we’ve had a few of those 50° mornings and maybe Fall is creeping in…but then again, we may well see a 90° streak and it’s right back to summer.  But in my opinion, you can grill all year round – steak tips on New Year’s Day, anyone? 

As I walk the aisle at the grocery store, there is a full supply of Fall beer on display, Octoberfest and Pumpkin-head a plenty.  I’m sure Dunkin Donuts will have their apple cider donuts and pumpkin flavored coffee ready to go any day now.  When I was a kid, we called the next season fall, or autumn, but I think it’s been replaced by “pumpkin-flavored everything” season. 

Why does there seem to be this rush for the next season, or the next holiday?  Before we know it, there will be Black Friday ads everywhere and Christmas trees will be for sale at Home Depot.  It’s as though our goal has become to get to the next day, the next week, the next season, earlier and earlier each year.  And when that season arrives it’s hard to enjoy it because we’ve moved on to plan for the next one.  We seem to always be in pursuit, but do we enjoy the destination?   

Some of you may know that I have four children, and they seem to have grown up quickly.  When they were young, people would tell us to enjoy it while it lasts, because it goes quickly.  Of course they were right, so we did enjoy it.  We went to soccer games on Saturdays, we made pancakes for breakfast together (pumpkin in the Fall of course), we went on family vacations (and still do), and it seems like we all enjoy each other, and that is certainly a blessing.  No matter how much you savor the moment though, time seems to pass quickly, and I wish it would slow down just a little bit.

So how do we handle the pressure of time passing.  After all, we only get one shot at this thing called life, and we shouldn’t get cheated.  We all know life isn’t fair.  We may not know what is ahead, but we do have today, and I hope that we make the most of it.  Live one day at a time, or even moment by moment.  And don’t forget to stop and smell the roses, or the pumpkin coffee.      

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ~ Mae West