living – Page 2 – We Only Get One Chance

THE SECOND STRAP

He always reaches for the second strap.

It doesn’t matter how many hundreds of times I have put this walking boot on, he reaches for that second strap to help out.

Most of you know I have been in a walking boot since early August. This has been an overuse injury do to my climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro back in March. Actually it didn’t happen on the mountain, it was when I got home and never took the proper time to rest that the injury happened. And beyond that I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis off and on for the past 4 years in my left foot. It was simply the perfect storm of events.

The trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro was life changing and amazing however since Kilimanjaro it has been the best seven months of my life and all due to meeting one heck of an incredible man.

He has been such a light in my life and I will be sharing our incredible life adventures as we go but I wanted to introduce you all to Mike.

He is the most kind, gentle, generous, hilarious and loving man I have ever been around and I feel lucky to even be able to hang out with someone like him on a regular basis and even luckier to be loved and supported by him.

The other day as I was leaving to head back into work after my lunch, he was there grabbing the boot and helping me. Of course I am the only one that knows exactly when I am putting it on and taking it off but as soon as I grab and velcro or un-velcro the first strap, he always grabs the second strap. I got choked up “Even after all this time, how do you just keep doing that and helping me?”

Last week must have marked 500 (not exaggerating) times or so that I have taken this boot off and put it back on. If he is with me, he jumps up from any place and is instantly up in my business and helping me get this thing back on and he is always fast enough to grab the second strap. There are 5 total and by the time he has his hands on the second strap he is fixing the rest of them up for me to go out and take on the world. Every. Single. Time.

We have worked and camped and traveled and danced and played since I have had this boot on. He is always always always making sure it is handled.

There is an air pump on the boot that pumps air around the liner and softens the hard rough corners of the boot. He knows it takes 8 pumps to pump it up to a comfortable level and that when I stand up it needs 2 more pumps of air for it to be solid. He counts out loud as he does it. It comforts me.

I have never ever known a man so willing to help me in my life. He is there for the fun times but also there, right by my side for the mundane-ness of life…like taking this boot off and putting it back on. The extent of his help is endless, I am just using this simple task as illustration.

I would be a liar if I said this has all been easy for me but honestly, to accept help in my life isn’t easy to begin with and it has taken this long to really be alright with leaning on him. His continual willingness to grab that second strap has been eye-opening, as well as mind-boggling. For the 40 years of my life so far, I have never had so much help, love and support.

Does it sound strange to say that I believe the Universe sent me such a crazy injury that needed so much tending to and sent him at the same time just so I could truly have a shift in my being and allow him to infiltrate my life? Does it sound crazy that this boot has been like a “boot camp” of sorts to break me down, break all the guards down and teach me to allow someone, him, in?

A friend said to me the other day “I sympathize with your foot thing as I dealt with something similar for 6 months. It took me getting to a place in my mind that if this is how it was going to be for the rest of my life, if this pain is permanent and I have to deal with this limitation for life, I accept that as my reality…and then I started healing.”

That hit me like a ton of bricks mostly because I have learned to accept it into my life with the condition that it is just for the time being assuming it will heal and feel better. But taking the idea up a level to the concept that if I have to live in this boot for the rest of my life and be alright with that has really allowed a huge emotional release for me and I can feel the healing happen…on many levels.

…because if I get to have his help with this (which I am finally healing so I will be back to normal in the next few weeks so I won’t need help with it for a lifetime BUT there are ALWAYS other obstacles) life for the rest of my life, I open my arms and heart fully and accept it.

After all of these months and never wavering ever even once, I know he will always be by my side ready to grab that second strap and help me move forward. I am forever grateful for his love.

DO LESS

“DO LESS” is the mantra I say over and over to myself lately.

I don’t know about your life, but every single last second will fill up in my life if I let it. I find myself running here and there and being pulled in all kinds of different directions.

Dr Erica Peabody - DO LESS - Chiropractor Fenton Michigan — In Moshi, Tanzania relaxing

Also when all the minutes of life are filled up, the days and weeks and months fly by! In fact, it is hard to believe we are working on the second half of June already when it feels like January was yesterday!

Since my training and trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, I have had a lot to accomplish. I always have a lot going on during my weeks of serving the community at my office Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic. But on top of that, I had so many weekends where I needed to travel for work conventions and the other weekends filled with other plans, fun plans, but plans nonetheless. It turned out I was only home 3 weekends out of 3 full months.

Once June rolled around and I was working to plan my month ahead, I decided this was going to be the month to do less. Do less traveling. Do less roaming around this area. Make less plans. Do less with my downtime. And now that we are over half way through this month, I am glad I made that an actual goal.

I have spent a few full days sitting at the lake. I have spent many evenings just relaxing and reading and writing at home. I have opted for longer walks and bike rides from my home rather than making it up to the gym. I have ran less since my foot is still healing from my climb in March (subject of the next blog). I have eaten more meals at home and stayed in to just sit and listen to music. I have successfully done less.

I was considering getting on a plane this coming weekend because I have some new really important people born into the world in the last week but have decided against it. I have had invites to head up north that I have turned down. I did take advantage of one day road trip last week that really filled my soul so I haven’t been totally and completely grounded to Fenton, but in that day we did less than what would have been my norm in the past.

Dr Erica Peabody - DO LESS - Chiropractor Fenton Michigan Traverse City — Enjoying the beauty in Traverse City

Since summer break from school is in full force, I have asked many of my patients at the Cafe “What are your summer plans? Any trips coming up?” Many of them have said “Nope, we are mostly just going to be home.” When they respond like that, I almost have a small sigh of relief for them as the school year is so busy that it truly is a time to do less. Especially since the fall sports season pretty much cuts the last month of summer right out, that is just a few weeks away.

My Tuesday mornings used to be spent going up to the gym and taking a step aerobics class and now I am sitting and writing instead. When I say DO LESS, I do not mean with your body or with mine and will follow up this writing slot with a bike ride to get my daily movement. But following that I will sit meditation, if even for just 5 minutes.

Do less. This doesn’t mean do less with your family or do less with your body, it means do less with your time and be more present. Be closer to home, closer to the ones you love and closer to yourself.

I am a doer. I go and go and go and go and go…non-stop…for years. It has been so eye-opening to have a true goal to do less. For many reasons I reevaluated what are the most important things to me and saved my extra time to spend doing those things with specific people and cut the rest out.

After writing and sharing all of that, I want to encourage you to look around your life and find an area or maybe a couple areas that you can do less. I find when I am doing less, I am being more…more centered, more grounded, more peaceful, more rested…less of a human doing and more of a human being, and that makes me really happy.

A LITTLE MAN

There is a little man.

He was born after 3 long days of labor. I saw them a lot during mom’s pregnancy. It ended up that my office seemed like the ideal place to be when labor was taking days and he was stuck in the birth canal. I labored with this beautiful mother for about 30 minutes and adjusted her spine between contractions.

She is a beautiful mother, an Earth mommy. She has done her research and chooses natural parenting ideas to rear her children…on all levels of life. Her children are lucky they have such an advocate for a mother.

I love her. I love the entire family. She came to me years ago when her other chiropractor scolded her for breastfeeding her child in his office while she waited for her turn to get adjusted. She called me on her way home from that appointment at his office. I am glad I answered that day because OF COURSE!!! you may sit and breastfeed in my office. We have a comfortable environment that I hope all feel welcome to sit and nourish their babies. If anyone in this building has an issue with it, that’s alright by me this is my place.

Her little man was born just over a month ago. He is precious and little. I mean really little. In fact, he is so little he was not gaining proper weight. He had gained about 2 ounces over the first few weeks of life when she brought him in to the Cafe of LIFE to see me.

I wish parents wouldn’t wait so long but he is here now and I am grateful for that.

This little man is so little that his pediatrician has become very concerned, rightfully so. Aside from that, this little mans’s grandmother, would call his mom in tears regularly for him and his situation.

His first visit with me, his discomfort was absolutely palpable and I could feel his pain. As a chiropractor, when little ones are struggling so much, they look deep into my eyes and do not break eye contact and their little beings beg and plead for some sort of help…and they innately know that I have some tools.

This is the first time one of the little ones made me actually cry during their visit. Usually it is after they have left the building or when I am wrapping up my day with thoughts of them.

I tried to keep my tears hidden as he stared me down, and I think I did. When mom reads this, it will hopefully be news to her. I was also concerned, really concerned.

In the back of my mind, I could tell he was not a “failure to thrive” baby, I could tell he was capable. As a chiropractor, putting my hands on him I could instantly feel the stress and tension through his entire nerve system, his entire body.

It is quite possible that during his 3 day birthing process, his spine got compromised. And not to the point of permanent damage, but enough to be cutting off his normal flow of information to parts of his body and leading to dis-ease (literally lack of ease) making it nearly impossible for him to relax into what he is trying to do, which is eat, sleep, digest and grow.

One adjustment and though he left the Cafe of LIFE screaming his head off, I knew and absolutely trusted that things were set in motion. I wish I could do one adjustment for the infants and they would calm down and be fine forevermore, that is not the case.

Two days later, another check of his spine and nerve system. And another adjustment. Still screaming.

Another three days later, another check of his spine and nerve system. Another adjustment and the beginnings of some real change. The little man slept all the way through the adjustment. So peaceful which means his body can slow down and rest and digest like he is supposed to. Only problem is that at this point the pediatrician is going to admit him to the hospital unless he gains weight by four days from yesterday. Mom is freaked out because they will put him on formula, which all I will say is please do your research.

She decided instead of waiting for four more days, she would stop by the pediatrician’s office after leaving my office and put him up on the scale just so she knows what she is dealing with.

This is the text message from her (yes some of my patients text message me) that afternoon…

This little man will not be so little any longer. He will grow and grow and develop and make his way in life. He will do this with a little bit more ease because his spine and nerve system have settled down towards normal and he can relax and learn to live in this crazy world.

It is such a beautiful thing.

Every single one of my patients leave a lasting impression on me. Every single one of them (you) take a little piece of my heart with them (you). On a side note, when the heart is broken, it grows back bigger. I am certain I have dealt with the level and extent of heartache in my life so that my heart is extra big to be able to handle the masses.

The adults take a little piece of my heart, but the kids they just run away with it…but also fill it back up big time.

A simple story like this, the simple chiropractic adjustments I have done on this little man, this is what keeps my own gas tank full.

It is an honor to be his family’s chiropractor. It is an honor to do this work. I am grateful beyond words and moved to tears on a regular basis by being able to help out so many but especially a little man like that.

I SAID YES

Quite often I receive emails that sound like this “I see you are on an adventure out on a boat in the Lake Michigan. How did you get involved in that?” My simple answer, “I said yes.”

When I get invited somewhere, I figure out if it is at all possible to say yes and if it is, I do.

When I was 10 years old, I said yes and was given my first horse.

I said yes and ended up moving across the country for school when I was 19 years old.

I said yes and moved up to Anchorage, Alaska for an awesome 3 year adventure.

I said yes (to myself and my abilities) and opened my own chiropractic practice Cafe of LIFE that thrives still today.

I have said yes and ended up away from my family for the holidays but with great friends and that has led to some awesome trips over the years.

I said yes and purchased a condo, a building and a home.

I said yes and have a second business that has been running and successful for years.

I have said yes and got on planes to not one, but 5 different first dates over the years.

I said yes and ended up in some really incredible relationships (though none have gone the distance…just yet anyway).

I said yes and found myself jumping out of a plane.

I said yes and signed up for and ran the Chicago Marathon.

I said yes and ended up having some of the greatest times of my life.

And just last weekend I said yes and ended up on a boat along the shore of Chicago to watch the America’s Cup Qualifying Race.

I am sharing all of this because as I am sitting on a boat in the water and under the sunshine and with a beautiful view of the city of Chicago last weekend, I was so grateful. I have had many experiences and in that moment, I am proud of myself for having the courage to just say yes and get out there and live life.

In the past, I have also gotten email messages inquiring whether I had some sort of terminal diagnosis and why I was making so many different things happen all the time? “The tragedy in life is not death…but what we let die inside while we live.”

Brush fear aside, step up and have the courage to say YES to your life! I promise you will find great adventures along the way and open up to really living!!!!

Next time I see you, I want to hear from you that “I said yes and…” and then tell me all about your adventure.

PUMPING GAS

I pulled up to a pump the other day to put gas in my car and it was impossible not to notice the TV that was blaring the news station and telling me about all the stuff going on in the world. It dawned on me that more and more gas pumps are coming equipped with TVs so that you don’t have to just “stand there”, you can catch up on the world events while pumping gas.

It really struck me on that particular morning. Many of you know that I do not have TV at home. I have a TV and I have capability to stream movies through Amazon Prime but that’s it. It is only turned on about once every 2 months to watch a movie, if even that. TV is just not something that I participate with at all. Because of this, I am super sensitive to them when they are on.

So as I am standing there getting the doom and gloom of the world right at the gas pump, I begin to think how did this all come about? How did the demand for TV to be right at the gas pump happen? Someone thought of that idea, invented a TV that could be installed at the gas pump, marketed to the gas stations and the gas stations bought into it.

I am not saying that is a bad thing, its truly BRILLIANT!!!

For some reason as humans, we cannot just stand there and pump gas and think? That makes me nervous. I have quite a few little ones in my life through my family and my practice, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, and I am noticing that it is harder and harder for them to be still and not stimulated by technology, TV or something of that nature.

I remember growing up with “I’m bored” coming from my mouth from time to time. However “I’m bored” just was something to say when I didn’t feel like using my imagination and finding/creating something to do.

I am curious if kids are getting much of a chance to develop their imagination anymore. Life is so filled with someone else’s creation, someone else’s imagination, projected on a screen and I am certain this is taking away from developing their own. Imagination is like a muscle and needs to be worked.

We used to take family road trips out west, hours and hours and hours in the car with four kids. We didn’t have movie players and gaming systems, we had the radio and our imagination and maybe some crayons and coloring books. That was it. Now it seems some people drive to the grocery store and need to have movies on in the car. I am, by no means, saying this is wrong because there are many good reasons for this. However, what if we just look out the windows, look around, maybe play “I spy” or something and start to engage the imaginative and observation parts of the mind…especially for the little ones but adults too!

Let’s take a moment and glance back through this past week. I am curious to know if there has been any time set aside to be able to just think. Taking some deliberate time to just think is a way we can asses our direction in life. It is a way to reflect back and see what patterns are happening in life and, if expanded out over the next multiple years in life, where that may take us.

A few years back, when my grandmother was still alive, she would see her grandchildren on their phones constantly and directly ask “When do you kids take any time to just think?’

Many of the new patients coming into the office these days check the box “anxiety” as one of their symptoms. I believe some of this is from the high speed pace of life and filling every single moment of each day with technology. Though I do not have TV, I am equally as guilty as the rest with wanting to fill quiet spaces with technology. I have set deliberate time aside to be “screen-free” and am changing my morning routine to delay my first screen interaction.

I am, in no way, saying anything is good or bad. I am, in no way, nay-saying on kids and TV. What I am asking is maybe we take a closer look at the AMOUNT of time spend in front of a screen. And though it is difficult because the gas pump TVs are SO LOUD, maybe take those 3 minutes to pump your gas to think about your life, your family or your significant other. If you are on a undesirable trajectory in life, I am not sure those 3 minutes pumping gas will give you enough insight to realize it, but awareness is the beginning of anything.

It amazed me how much I learned from pumping gas that day. Just something to think about since we only get one chance!!!

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

Welcome to the future!!!

Do you remember 1985 when the movie “Back to the Future” came out? I was quite young at that point however it was an age that I can remember life and some of the specifics.

The main thing I remember is thinking that the date they were heading to in their time machine seemed like it was so far away!! “That is forever from now!” I thought.

I also remember being in first grade and our neighbors were in fifth grade and I thought that was so old and thinking the moment I graduated from Fenton High School that my life was over. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan Back to the Future

When we are young, it seems like those things are so far off, however here we are today!!!

When I think back to 1985, I was 8 years old and in third grade at State Road Elementary. Life was simple back then and school came easy for me. I remember some of the most stressful things happening on a daily basis would be deciding between pizza or a cheeseburger for lunch and that was it. I remember wearing parachute pants (because I would only wear clothes my older brother wore first) and always being one of the only girls on the soccer field for recess every single day.

The span of life between then and today “the future” has been quite an adventure. I obviously finished and graduated from Fenton High School, went on to Michigan State, transferred to Boise State University and finally graduated with my bachelors degree from University of Alaska in Anchorage. I started my doctorate at Life University in Atalanta, GA and finished at Sherman College in Spartanburg, SC.

During that time, I married and divorced, I lived in many places all over the country, studied my little heart out and moved home to open my practice. Since then I have started a business, traveled to many parts of the world, been on a mission trip, ran a marathon and many half-marathons, completed triathlons, been on numerous dates, bought a condo and then a home. I became an aunt. I have nieces and nephews I have watched grow and have helped them learn about their world, adjusted thousands and thousands of people, made money, lost money and made investments. I have been diagnosed with a heart condition but otherwise have had good health. I have added many friends and lost a few, added many family members and lost a few of those too.

A LOT has happened from that time to now!

Sometimes life can feel as if it is not moving and nothing is getting accomplished. But if you really stop what you are doing right now and see if you can remember back to the time while watching that movie for a first time (I assume everyone has watched it, its such a classic), truly you have come so far and accomplished so much. The good, the bad and the ugly, take a moment to have gratitude for all of it. If it didn’t go the way you really wanted it to, then take another moment and figure out something you can you do from this point to make a change. Instead of waiting to make a New Year’s Resolution, how about resolving to do something today that will change your trajectory in life?

There is no time like the present since today is “the future”. Welcome to the future!

SWEET SWEET SEPTEMBER

As I was on a 3 mile walk near my home this evening, I was thinking I don’t know if I ever remember a sweeter September in Michigan than what we are experiencing this year. I love the fall and am totally in love with this sweet, sweet September.

Do you remember ever having more sunshine than what we have had lately? I think it has rained maybe a few hours total for this entire month. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan September

The nights are cool now, the mornings are crisp and it is so refreshing.

But there is so much more to this sweet sweet September than just the weather and I do not know many people who actually enjoy talking about the weather.

September marks a time of year when things begin to “normalize”. Most of that is our schedules with school starting and getting the family back to some sort of “normal” routine. Serving this community in my office, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, on a weekly basis magnifies so much of the community energy. August, and the preparation for school to start, brings a frenzied energy. There is always such anticipation about the year ahead and what it will bring. So many questions run around in everyone’s head and it shows up in their physiology…Who will be my teacher this year? Will I have the right clothes? I wonder if my friends will be in my class? I wonder if I will get “that” student the other teachers are warning everyone about? I wonder how my sports team will do? .…all of these unknowns and so much more adds into the already heightened energy of August.

In the past, September has hit like a ton of bricks and it has often taken a long time for people to settle into their routines. But this sweet sweet September feels very different. It feels like we were all ready for that shift back to routine and school and work. Of course our busy schedules have brought October on us so quickly it is difficult to believe that will be next week.

And when speaking about sweet sweet September, we cannot forget about college football of course! College football games are usually attended wearing lots of layers and drinking warm drinks…but not in September and especially not this September. Beautiful, sunshine filled Saturdays at the football stadiums with the smells of fall in the air, does it get any sweeter than that?!?!

So as I am walking this evening and admiring absolutely everything about this beautiful place I call home, I am thinking to myself “I don’t remember a sweeter September than this one, and I am sure grateful to be awake and alive today to experience it!”

I certainly hope you have been able to get out and play in the sunshine with your families. Within just a few weeks, winter will be moving in and I am definitely not banking on seeing another sweet sweet September quite like this one. We get to live this one time…put some of those “have to’s” aside for a few more days and get out there and make the most of it!!!

UPDATING THIS INCREDIBLE STORY

I have to update you on this incredible story.

Do you remember my beautiful cousin, Danielle (My First Best Friend) and her husband Scott? Well it has been over a year and I have to share this beautiful clip with you.

Videos tell the best stories.

She is so inspiring.

He is so inspiring.

They love they share is so inspiring.

I hope you found a little smile, a little bit of joy and maybe some hope for your day, your family and your life.

What an incredible story!

THAT’S INCREDIBLE!

The most incredible thing is happening today and I am positive by the end of this post, you will be saying “THAT’S INCREDIBLE!” too!

Many of you remember the post I made about My First Best Friend back in April. My cousin, Danielle, who also happens to be my very first best friend in my life, her husband had a sudden brain bleed. At the moment it happened, it was beyond belief, “things like that don’t happen to people I know” was my initial thought.

But it really did happen and it has changed the course of their lives forever.

You may have remembered a couple months after that initial post, I wanted to give you an update of their status, and posted A Smile.

Today, this morning, 6 months and 2 weeks to the day…Scott is coming home. THAT’S INCREDIBLE!!!!

They have transferred to many different places and for the past few months have been over in Grand Rapids, a little too far for me to travel regularly to visit with them. I have done what I could to let her know I am here with her every step of the way, and mostly through text message. Although text seems impersonal at times, I know their days are filled with therapies and when she was not there with him, she was driving back home to Durand daily to take care of her home and her boys.

Here is a little snippet of the past 6 months between her and I.

Me: “Sending you love. How are you guys doing?”
Danielle: “I am hanging in there. It has been tough but I know he is going to come through this.”

Danielle: “He started moving his hands and playing with my wedding ring today!”
Me: “Awesome! THAT’S INCREDIBLE!!”

Danielle: “He is blinking his eyes and seems to be able to focus on things.”
Me: “Good. I am so relieved. THAT’S TRULY INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “I finally got him to smile. It was the most wonderful thing I have ever seen…”
Me: “Wow! That is totally awesome!!”

Danielle: “He mouthed ‘I love you’ to me when I left today.”
Me: “Oh my goodness! THAT’S INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “He was able to speak some words out loud today.”
Me: “Wow! THAT’S INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “His memory is good and improving every day.”
Me: “That guy is amazing! THAT’S SO INCREDIBLE!!”

Danielle: “He held an instrument and started to play some chords today.”
Me: “THAT”S FREAKIN’ INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “He was able to eat solid foods today.”
Me: “THAT’S INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “We got to go on a drive today.”
Me: “I bet that was amazing. So INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “He is being accepted to a program that only takes success cases. They expect complete recovery.”
Me: “OH MY GOODNESS!!! THAT”S INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “He stood up today. I almost forgot how tall he is.”
Me: “THAT”S INCREDIBLE.”

Danielle: “He is walking with a walker today.”
Me: “THAT”S INCREDIBLE!”

Danielle: “He is walking on his own with minor assistance.”
Me: “UNBELIEVABLE!!! THAT”S INCREDIBLE.”

Danielle: “We got a release date for him to finally come home!!!”
Me: “Holy cow!!! That guy is AMAZING!!! THAT”S INCREDIBLE!!!!”

When I would respond to all of these things that he was able to gain back after losing everything, my usual response truly was, “THAT’S INCREDIBLE!” because it was and is. She would always reply back to me with “Yes, he is truly remarkable.” or “Yes, he is just incredible.”

Every bit of the recovery he has made has been incredible. When doctors change their tone from “he is not going to make it” one day, to “Wow! We didn’t expect that to happen!” and “He is not doing what we normally expect in this situation.” the very next day…it was incredible.

It is not over, their journey is still going to be long and winding and there is a lot of work to do. He has come so far but please keep praying and sending healing thoughts towards them. She is an angel and deserves a lot of credit. I have never seen anyone love so much, push so hard, encourage so much, learn so much, fight for someone, support so gracefully, get so involved and be so strong. She has a gift. She is a gift. He is a gift. And the love that exists between those two is a gift to this world. It truly is incredible!

GET BUSY ENJOYING LIFE

As the seasons tick by and we head into this beautiful Michigan fall, I want to remind you that we all need to get busy enjoying life. It is going so fast!!

I recently came across this powerful writing and I wanted to share it with you as it seems to fit the mood perfectly.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER

by IRMA BOMBECK (on her death bed from a terminal illness)

” 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 a day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light the fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared the responsibility carried by my husband.

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 sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

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 and realized 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.” More “I’m sorry’s.”

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute…look at it and really see it…live it and never give it back. Stop sweating the small stuff.

Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what.

Instead, let’s cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

Let’s think about what God HAS blessed us with. And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally. I hope you all have a blessed day.”

There are some fun things, some simple things and some things to really think about in that list above. What an awesome time to bring to our awareness to how sweet and simple life really is.

With such a beautiful week, it is easy to want to get outside and enjoy the days. Even when it is cold, gray and yucky out, we can still find a little bit of sweetness inside of each day. Let’s all get busy enjoying life!