Take Your Time

Walking into town this morning, I passed a young woman with a small child.  The woman was holding an empty pushchair, looking behind where the child was.  The small toddler was walking very slowly.  I smiled to myself thinking 'you can't be in a hurry when a small child wants to walk.'  The mother knows where she's going and just wants to get there but for the child, it's a whole new adventure.  She wants to look closely at everything and just take time to enjoy the freedom of walking and taking it all in.  No doubt some things were new to her and so had to be investigated.

Those of us who are parents or grandparents remember well the times when our children discovered things for the first time.  Oh the excitement; the look on their faces; sheer wonder at discovering something new.

It does seem a shame that much of that wonder of seeing life goes as we grow older.  We can so easily get to the point of 'we've seen it all before' and dismiss the awesomeness of small things happening all around us.  We are so often in a hurry just to get from A to B as quickly as possible.  Busy, busy, busy; deadlines to meet; so much to pack into our 24 hours.  And before we know it, the months and years have flown by.  

I must say that as a retired person, I do have the privilege of not having deadlines to meet or places I must be.  Still, it is a good reminder to occasionally just stop and notice the small details of everyday life.  Take time, take a deep breath and enjoy just being alive.  Don't let life slip by without taking time to enjoy it.