Stop and Smell The Roses

Some days we are clocking in and clocking out or going through the motions of the day not really being in the moment.

 

Wake up, running late, get to work, drink coffee, finally really wake up, chit chat, work, have lunch or sometimes if you are lucky to go out to lunch, work, drink caffeine again, work, leave, go home, cook dinner, watch TV and hit the sack to go to bed.  I call it the Lather. Rinse. Repeat cycle.

 

You start off every day lathering getting ready for a great day then you realize it was very similar to the day before and then before you know it you have repeated the same type of day the entire week! YIKES!

 

For me, I find myself running towards my red couch at the end of the workday to relax and watch some mindless television. It really can suck the life out of you and in the blink of an eye Pete Delkus or even worse Dale Hanson is on and you are wondering what happened to what was supposed to be an exciting night.

 

Every once in a while, life gives you a break in your routine life and gets you out of the rut of the mundane cycle of everyday life. Again, it’s the things that you are nervous about or unsure about what are the things that you get the most out of.

 

The fear of the unknown or stepping outside of your comfort zone. For me, it was picking up the phone to spend time talking to my grandmother whom  I had not talked to for quite some time. The conversation ended up being one of the best I have had in a really long time. Among the random topics we discussed, she said one simple phrase that transcends through any generation, “Take time to stop and smell the roses. Enjoy your life”

 

Granted in my grandmother’s generation she probably did stop and smell her own roses that she grew in her garden with pride because she had the time to do so. Now we can just buy them from Sam’s in bulk and feel pride from saving a buck and the time. Let’s be real though. In today’s society who has time to even plant the roses, take care of them so they will grow for us to stop and smell them? That is a massive problem we have today as a society. Nobody is stopping to do anything but go, go, go.

 

It’s nobody’s fault per se; It’s life in general. We are all so busy with work, family, work, friends, etc. The older I get the busier my (paper) calendar gets and most of the time it’s filled with things that I am obligated to do, not necessarily things that are my hobbies.

 

Whether its time to stop and call an old friend that you haven’t talked to in a while, or time to stop and smell your coffee, it’s time for us to all stop, in general, to take time to figure out what is really important to you as a person.

 

What makes you happy? Sometimes I am the most happiness when I don’t plan something and then poof! something just pops up and I end up having a blast. (This is hard for me to do though because I am a huge planner! My friends will tell you this.)

 

I wasn’t planning on calling my grandmother today and I surely wasn’t planning on taking an hour of my day (shocking!) on the phone just to talk about nothing, but at the end of the phone call her stories and her advice brought me back to the basics of living a good life and being a good person. I also love to hear her stories about when we were younger or even better what my Dad or Uncle was like as a child.

 

I called her to thank her for the savings bonds she gave me the day I was born. I told her that I had cashed them today (many years later). She told me about the day I was born and how savings bonds used to be the gift to get because it was not gender-specific. I thought it was so neat to hear about the day I was born from my grandmother. It also made me sad because I get so busy that I don’t make time to talk to her as much as I should.

 

Life is too short and sometimes it’s like I have to plan the phone calls in my paper calendar just to make it happen because I am so stuck in the daily grind of routine. My goal is to break this chain and make some daily changes to my routines. It’s not going to be easy because I really enjoy the relationship that I have with my couch.

 

What are some things that you do to get out of your routines? I would love to hear!

 

We are all creatures of habits and I can only imagine that this problem becomes even larger once you through kids into the mix!  How does one conquer all these things and still find time for hobbies or just a phone call to a loved one to talk (or blog) about nothing.

 

The first step, in my opinion,  is recognizing you need to get out or your routine every once in a while before life passes you by.

 

Second, start small and plan some unusual things to do on a random day. Take a walk at a park, go to a wine tasting, check out the farmer’s market, go to the dollar movie, go back to school or take a class on a hobby for fun, take your kids to Braum’s for a good ole fashioned waffle cone. The list can go on and on.  Read a book instead of watching television.

 

Call your momma! Call your Dad! Stop Facebook stalking your friends or watching so much reality TV and start living your own life (I need to take this advice for sure!!) Third, look back and see if it’s making you happier!

 

Lather. Rinse…Repeat every once in a while for a more vibrant look in your life.

 

Don’t worry Jersey Shore will be on Netflix for many years to come, but your loved ones may not always be “on-demand” or “in queue” so make the most out of this short time on Earth (although I think some people might be from Mars).

 

Don’t sweat the small stuff, forgive and move on, have a sense of humor for crying out loud, love with all your heart and don’t ever pass up free dessert or a glass of wine (unless you are having drinking problems, then maybe you should grab a Capri Sun and an Oatmeal Creme Pie to bring you back to a time when your biggest problem was which snap bracelet you should wear to school that day).