A Case for Smelling the Roses

I work around life and death. Almost everyday there’s a new tragedy, death, birth, or simple moment in time that changes someone’s life forever. With so many of these kinds of situations unfolding in front of me, it’s easy to take things for granted.

I found myself walking along side two co-workers. One is an older woman in the twilight of her working career, far from her 1st rodeo, defining her as “well seasoned” would be an understatement. The other is a younger woman, closer to her high school graduation than that point we all reach when the bartender or checkout clerk doesn’t bother to ask for ID anymore.

The younger woman was frustrated with the stress of her day and eventually blurted out “I can’t wait for this day to be over” and trudged away. The older woman looked over at me and said, “When you get to be my age, you learn to like the wait”.

That one sentence hit me like sledgehammer. Life really is entirely too brief to shortchange ourselves. There are many ways the younger woman could have made her situation better. Hopefully she’ll figure it all out before she runs out of days to rush through.

Here’s to making the most of your day...