A good friend of mine, I call him one of my brothers, is visiting from out of state. He is in the area for only a week and has been spending his time trying to visit as many of his friends and family as possible while he is here.
We hung out last night and at the end of the evening we were planning when we were going to get together again. He proceeded to tell me who he was spending time with and when. We scheduled more time to spend together and I thought nothing more of it that night.
The next morning as I was drinking my coffee and taking care of the dog a thought occurred to me and it inspired this entry. I found myself surprised at, what I considered, how little time he was getting to spend with people.
As time goes on and we grow older we fill our lives with essentials and non-essentials. Eventually you fall into a rhythm that we commonly refer to as “life” or the “daily grind.” What happens is when life throws you a curve ball and a distant friend visits or something interferes with your routine you are left with a decision. Do you make time or don’t you? If you don’t it is usually accompanied with an excuse/reason as to why not.
I include excuse because while there are perfectly valid reasons to not do certain things, there is also only so much time in a day. However, that does not mean that your reason is a good reason and therefore it becomes an excuse. Mind you, the only person that truly knows it was an excuse is the one who made it. So, we all need to monitor ourselves because we are the only ones that can correct it when it happens.
So, what do I mean by excuse? If you can’t do something from 9-5 because you have a job to go to. That’s a good reason. If you can’t/won’t do something because you would rather play video games, watch TV, or are being lazy. That’s an excuse. If you don’t do something because your family needs you. That’s a good reason. I should clarify and say that I mean when they truly need you. Not when you say they need you because you are using them as an excuse. I think you get the point…
I understand that life gets busy. Things don’t always happen at convenient times. Yet, it is important, I feel, that you make the time because you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. I am a big movie fan and there is a quote from the movie Wanted that I feel is relevant here.
“We don’t know how far the ripples of our decisions go.”
They go on to justify why they are a fraternity of assassins. However, I agree that we need to monitor our decisions because it is not always obvious how much of an impact the simple decisions we make can have.
As always I encourage you to smile and make time for the things that matter in life instead of making excuses as to why you don’t have and don’t do what you should/could be. A good place to start would be to read Mayonnaise Jar & Beer. It is a story that I heard long ago that set me on a path to actively choose to live my life instead of watching it go by.