Exhale

This year I am a different person.
Most of my life, I have been waiting for that magical moment when everything would be perfect and I could start to live. For instance, waiting to be thin enough to wear that perfect dress; to meet the perfect man; to have the perfect job; get those perfect grades; have the perfect house; the perfect life... waiting to exhale.

It has been 3 decades and now I know that there is no perfect moment. I accept. So this year, I was reborn. The other day I got home tired after a full work day. I parked the car, climbed up the stairs and turned the corner towards my apartment. Suddenly I stopped and admired the brightly coloured flowers growing on the left side overlooking the car park. Guess what happened next? I stopped and I smelled the flowers.

One morning last month, I went for a run. It felt great. I returned to the hotel where I stay and decided to walk around the pool to cool down. I climbed up the stairs to the pool area and after several turns, I noticed the small swing set. I stopped and sat on one swing. Now, when was the last time I did that? Once last year I swung on a children's swing at a park near my home in Georgia. Before that, I think that I'd not been on a swing since childhood.

Some weeks ago, I stopped to listen to the sound of the birds that gather every morning in the trees within the hotel grounds. More often nowadays, I pause and stare at the huge river Congo (that I learned about in history and geography books). As I cross the bridge on my jogging route I watch the fishermen in their simple boats and nets. I catch the beauty in the sunset and sometimes the sunrise too. These are the things that matter. Sometime last year my husband and I bought some take-out food from a Jamaican restaurant and sat in a park to eat. Its the little things... the little miracles in life that we should live for.

When was the last time a little child hugged your neck? [excluding your own kids if you have the sort of kids that hug a lot; including your own kids if you are not a family of huggers; LOL]. When is the last time you had a picnic? The last time you had a spa treatment (ladies & guys too)? The last time you read to an elderly person or a child? The last time you cooked for someone? The last time you visited someone in hospital? The last time you spent time with extended family? The last time you played hopscotch with your kids? The last time you played catch? Do you remember any of those times?

Life is precious and life is short. This is 2010 - a year to remember all the good things in your life and to do some of the fun things that you haven't had time to do in a while (or that you have been putting off until that perfect day). Today is as perfect as it gets. Start living. Just stop what you are doing right now and ... Exhale!

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