LESS CARES, MORE STARES
Have you ever been sick, I mean sick sick? Not sick like a mild headache or tummy upset but sick like you’re about to die. It’s not a pretty feeling – the fear and panic. But after those emotions comes the practical work of seeking solutions and weighing one’s options. If after that, the prognosis still seems grim, resignation sets in and hopefully, an attempt to enjoy whatever time one has left.
(RELATED: I WILL BE HAPPY AND SO SHOULD YOU!)
Isn’t it surreal that it’s when we feel our life is coming to an end that our capacity to enjoy it is enhanced? Everything takes on new meaning. The sky is bluer, the grasses are greener, the colours on flower petals simply blow our minds. Even the ground we walk on – the sand-packed earth which we may never have paid attention to seems to have a grandeur of its own.
[bctt tweet=”Everything takes on new meaning when we remember that life is short. #quote” username=”edithsmusings”]
Hanging out with friends, Barry & Becky*
But we can appreciate nature, love life and celebrate people around us without necessarily having a death sentence hanging over us. We can make it our routine to take in our surroundings and marvel at the awesome works of God. We can build meaningful relationships with people and bring value to their lives when we are healthy.
[bctt tweet=”Find time to smell the roses while you can. #quote #inspiration” username=”edithsmusings”]
We shouldn’t be so sucked into the rat race that we deny ourselves simple pleasures like cooking what we really love to eat and having friends over to share it. In short, we need to ask the Lord to heighten our appreciation of everything and our capacity to wonder. For as Welsh poet, W. H. Davies, asks in his poem, “Leisure”:
What is this life if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
(RELATED: 3 BENEFITS OF WALKING IN JOY)
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*The full names of my friends are Dr Barigbon and Mrs Rebecca Nsereka.
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Unfortunately, we take life too serious to see the beauty in it. We believe we need money to enjoy life, when the real enjoyment is free. What beats a time on vet mountain, feeling the breeze at your cheeks. Or a night staring at beautiful stars. Or simply the sight of babies..
Yeah, we’re often missing out on a lot, Israel. May God help us to recalibrate how we spent our time in Jesus’ name.
“We should not be so sucked into the rat race that we deny ourselves simple pleasures”. We shouldn’t be too serious or busy that we refuse to observe or get in touch with pals and loved ones with whom life is made enjoyable. We are to maximize our stay here. Thanks ma. This is didactic.
Praise God and thank you, Kelechi!
Edith, I love this post, and I needed it today. As a child I was made to feel guilty for having joy, so I struggle with taking time to stop and do the things I love. Jesus is helping me through this, but it’s definitely a slow process! Today has turned out to be the most beautiful day, after the most humid summer I can recall here in the Shenandoah Mountains. I want to enjoy doing the things I love instead of always feeling like I have to clean, do a project, or answer an email. I want to watch the puffy white clouds in the sky, eat dinner outside, play stuffed animals with my daughter, make some jewelry, and paint my toes! And… spend time with God! It’s time to start putting those things first, instead of last, or they won’t happen at all! Thank you for helping me prioritize my day! Love you! God bless you my precious friend, and your dear husband, in Jesus’ name! ❤️
Lovely, lovely, Amgela! There’s always so much to do. It’s ironic that I chose to teach in a small university town and still get swamped. I guess it would have been much worse in a big city with traffic snarls and what not. We just need to be intentional, as they say, about taking time out to unwind or it would never happen. I just finished reading a mystery novel. I love the detective stuff. It was funny and mentally stimulating. Work, work, work, needs to be punctuated with such times. Thanks a lot for visiting and have a beautiful weekend.
Beautiful and so true, dear Sis. Lord help us to enjoy and appreciate all that You have given us and realize what truly matters in Jesus’ Name amen! God bless you! 🙂
Amen. Glad you dropped by, Sybella! Much love to you and yours. Have a super blessed August in Jesus’ name.
NICE ONE MA.
Thanks, Iheanyi. You are blessed!
“Life is good, sweet and blossom but how can we enjoy life amidst its difficulties?”
sometimes life keeps us so engaged that we forget those things that are our source of joy but only channel our minds toward what we view as our problems which in the end are unlimited and insatiable. Yeah is nice appreciating nature and friends but sometimes we are too serious that we tend to forget. Nice one, Ma!
Thanks a lot and bless you, Godwin!
In the quest to make it and be like others, we most of the time forget the beauty of life. We only remember it when life is about to be taken from us. Indeed, we should not be so sucked into the rat race that we deny ourselves simple pleasures of life.
You know that’s part of the reason behind the internet slang, YOLO (You Only Live Once). Bless you!
LIfe is good. I am always happy and joyful.
Keep it up, my dear, and remain blessed.
This is beautiful, Edith! A great (and important) reminder. I love “our capacity to wonder” <3
Thanks a lot, Jordan! You are blessed!
for the first time in 2years i open this blog site and it seems the message was waiting for me: it was meant for none but me.
I’m glad to hear that, Precious. Glory to God! If I recall correctly, you visited in July or August last year when we had the response challenge to “Am I Still Worth Your Time?” You are highly blessed in Jesus’ name.
We all should learn to enjoy and live our life to the fullest.That’s God’s desire for us
It takes discipline to do that in the midst of hardship and greed. However, God can help us to properly prioritize.
I have been trying to “slow down” and appreciate life more. There are so many distractions but when we pause, we can see God’s miracles more clearly and hear his whisperings of direction and encouragement.
Thanks for sharing!
And thank you for reading. We achieve a lot more when we form the habit of pausing to recuperate. God’s grace in all you do in Jesus’ name.
I am telling you its not how long you live that matters but how well. live an impactful life.
Live your life everyday like it’s your last day…. Let’s appreciate things even before we lose them. Life is precious, life is beautiful. Value little things and live a good life
Family is not all about coming from the same womb, being the same blood and from the same village. It also includes making my out time for each other, spending time together and always keeping in touch with every means possible. Sometimes, we humans take life and business too serious that we don’t have time for each other until the doctor confirms our death date and we now start to remember those friends and family we left.
Life is too short to live alone. There should be time for outings, fun and get together with families and friends in our schedules
Experience has actually taught me the significance of every minute of life spent, it is wise to spend time and appreciate God’s work in sustaining our lives. this we can do by making out time to share with friends and well wishers, engage ourselves in those things we love, quite understandable. Thanks a heap.
Wow this is a lovely poem, I love this line we shouldn’t be so sucked up in life that we forget to allow life to happen to us. We should always try to enjoy life each day of our living and make impact in the life of others.
The truth is that, most people like myself, tend to forget how beautiful it is to be healthy. We appreciate Good Health more on our sick beds. When you cannot go where you want to go; eat what you want eat or do whatever you wish to do. It is that time I use to say “Healthy people may not know the blessing they are enjoying”. Life is lived once, we must live it to the fullest!
We often miss out on a lot of things because we worry about what the future holds for us. Live in the moment and plan the future.
Visit that place you always wanted to, cook that fantastic meal you always craved, SMILE ? always because you have all right to.
Thank you Ma for this wonderful piece?
Wonderful a lot of people take life too serious I Was once like that but I had stop. Take life less serious and made friends
Many times we take this life so seriously, not knowing how much we are missing out on other things of life, like building lasting relationships and checking up on old friends.
I’m learning to begin to do things I love to do and prioritize them.
people like me do not show appriciation until on sick bed . it didnt start today anyway even in the bible it is only when they are about to die that they can bless you
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Did you actually read the post, my dear?
This post just reminds me of the saying ‘you never know the value of what yiu have until it is gone. When we are healthy we never appreciate nature’s great many pleasures. Just the thought of being able to have fresh air becomes like gold when we are on the sick bed. God is love and his blessings through nature should be appreciated at all times
In life’s little things, lay the thrills of comfort.
We should learn to hang out more with friends and chill out from the stuffy things in life. We shouldn’t wait till we are close to kissing earth goodbye before we enjoy what’s in it.
A lot of people take life too serious but it shouldn’t be like that ,we should learn to enjoy and live our life happily
The life we have now is precious so we should guide it by living a good life. Its good if we make use of the time we have now, enjoy it rightly and keep good relationship and at most let love lead the way, bless you ma.
The part where you said you begin to realise or appreciate the things around you when you are on the death bed, actually hit a spot. Well, in my own case, it is not actually a death bed more like bedridden,I found out that I appreciate my friends more, find out that I actually miss the outdoor environment (I’m an indoor person), i actually miss my siblings stubbornness. What I’m saying is that you should learn to appreciate what you have, go to those places you would love to visit, hang out with whatever person you feel is worth having your friendship, take risks (but not the one that will end up putting your life in danger), so you won’t end up regretting or wondering how it would have felt if you had done something.
This really touched me. We don’t appreciate the things around us until we are about to lose them. It’s important that while we are still on earth, we appreciate nature and all the good things God has given us before its too late. Let’s not just be busy working our selves out all the time without creating time for the things that actually make us happy(which are right in God’s presence).
There is a popular rhyme i learnt in my primary school and it goes ” All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The lord god made them all.
It needful and good to appreciate God’s wonderful and amazing works
Life really takes another dimension when you remember that life is so short, what is life if full of cares? you are dead to the wonders of this world, when you gets sucked in the rat race. take time, enjoy, appreciate nature and smell the roses.
We shouldn’t wait for bad things to occur before we value this gift of life.
The gift of life should be treasured and appreciated as we continue to live on earth☺️
I need to enjoy the moment more. I have learned to derive joy from Christ rather than my circumstances.
I absolutely love slowing down and enjoying the present more. When I drive somewhere, I talk to the Lord and praise Him for all of the beautiful nature I see around me. He is such an amazing God.
Life is short, so make every second of it count. Spend time with loved ones, give love, enjoy nature and be grateful for all you have.
If this isn’t the best post I have encountered yet. Apt and straight to the point. Thanks Ma. You hit the nail right on the head here. We must not get to the point of death to see the beauty of this world and enjoy it. We live only once, so let’s make the best of it and “smell the roses while we can.”
In the quest to make it in life, we always forget that life is sweet and beautiful. The short time we have here on earth, we should enjoy life in good pleasure with total appreciation to God Almighty for the beautiful nature created by him.
Thank God for this post. It’s evidence that I have been on the right track. Making every moment count; the wins and losses. Smell the roses as you have the chance cuz you may not have the chance any longer. I’m so sharing this to my friends on all platforms!
I guess I have been stuck in the rat race. Lately, I haven’t been doing the things I really love to do and I haven’t been spending time with my favourite people.
I will try to just be happy and have fun with the people I love.
Thanks ma, for the reminder!
We don’t really know what we have until we’re about to loose it, that’s why every thing seems so priceless at every stare because we’re about to loose it! Truth be told ,every moment with friends and family matters! Wonderful piece! Let’s start making meaningful relationships!
The life he gave to us, we are going to give it back to him, I believe everyone has it’s purpose in this life and what matters is making your time here on earth count
Thank you for this post ma,I have been stuck in the rat track for long, have isolated myself from doing what I love for so long and have not hanged out with my friends do so long. Well I think is time to come out from the rat track and live life!
I personally try to make every moment count because life is really beautiful and we ought to make good use of it by doing things we love and even hanging out with friend and spreading love. Always appreciate a new day and God for u being able to live.
If we continued to dwell on the bad experiences we’ve had or how cruel life has been, we forget to actually remember the good things of life that comes free to us. Like you said, “smell the roses while you still can”.
Life is short, our joy shouldn’t be.
Really good. We dont know the beauty of created things. When we admire their beauty, it gives joy and serenity of mind. It is often good to refresh ourselves with appreciation of God’s work around us both humans and others.
Well, maybe just living our lives normally and doing things we have pleasure in could buy us more time alive
It’s sad how life overwhelms us and causes us to turn a blind eye to some of the things that matters the most until we have them no more.
Thanks for this reminder, ma.