READ THIS SLOWLY-ok

GRATITUDE

I have this computer to play with when I can’t sleep.

  IT’s PRETTY PROFOUND.
      Too many people put off something that brings 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
       Stevie 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
       Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
      My lips 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……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?
       Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand
      why I sent this to you.
       Have you ever watched kids playing on a 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

       It’s National Friendship Week.  Show your friends how
       much you care.  Send this to everyone you consider a
      FRIEND.  If it comes back to you, then you’ll know you
       have a circle of friends.

      To those I have sent this to… I LOVE you & cherish our
      friendship.
      "Life may not be the party we hoped for…  but while we
       are here we might as well dance!"