Return to Yesteryear

REMEMBERING the past is an activity most of us deliberately engage in from time to time. Memory is a wonderful thing! It allows us to think back to days gone by, to re-play in our minds many happy experiences, and to recall some of the sad times in our lives as well. Bringing back images to our mind's eye of earlier days - including those of our childhood - is usually a pleasant exercise, and one that often produces a natural smile.

Even better than the thought process described above, is the actual return to some of the places of our past. For some, going back to these locations, retracing the steps of younger days, or seeing old haunts is not possible because of one reason or another. However, many have discovered that a return to yesteryear is indeed a delightful leisure experience.

Consider these possibilities: finding the place of your birth; locating a house where you once lived; re-visiting a school that you attended; returning to the spot where you played ball as a kid; worshiping in a church where you and your parents were once members; seeing again an old barn that stood on your uncle's farm; driving down a country road to where your grandparents lived; or going back to a high school reunion. If pursued, one or more of these ideas - or others like them - can become an enjoyable trek down memory lane!

We often feel confident that taking trips to new places will give us a good time. Perhaps we need to consider the notion that a trip to old places (or places in our past) just might bring us great joy and also provide us with a feeling of time well spent. A journey into our past, and a return to yesteryear, is a worthy option when we ponder our next free-time adventure!

Smell the Flowers

WE ARE BORN. We will die. What comes between these two major events is extremely important: life! The length of our lives is different, of course. Some will have their lives cut short soon after birth for one reason or another. Others will live to be 100 or more. The lifetime for most of us will fall somewhere between these two extremes.

While the number of days, months, and years all of us live will vary, there is one constant. For every person who remained alive during the past week, for example, the time lived has been exactly the same - down to the last second. Therefore, every individual in the world has had precisely 168 hours, (or 10,080 minutes; or 604,800 seconds) to live. The question that really matters is, "How have we lived during this time which was granted to us?"

It is likely that many of us need to admonish ourselves. Perhaps we need to slow down long enough to smell the flowers along life's pathway. Instead of plunging ahead and always racing against the clock, perhaps we need to enjoy the journey in a genuine fashion. We often need to be reminded that life is short - no matter how many years we have. Keep in mind, life is not meant to be spent as if we are on a racetrack. Life should be lived to the fullest.

We all have duties and responsibilities of some sort. However, what we oftentimes lack is the good judgement to make sure we have some unobligated hours in each and every day. Further, we should promise ourselves to make better use of the time which is left over after obligations are met.

Free time is not a curse - it's a blessing! Leisure is not something to be dreaded - but welcomed! Work is necessary, and for our own good, during many of our years. But leisure too is a vital component in our lives. In leisure, we have the choice as to what we do and how we live. Leisure offers us the opportunity to breathe-in and to experience the abundant bounty of life.

Have you taken the time to smell the flowers lately?