Catch up is not a condiment...

So I come back from the NIH with my usual renewed dedication to looking on the lucky side of life. To appreciate what I have and discount that which means nothing in the big scheme of life.  But how do you do that when everything around you screams to be cleaned up, organized, attended to, put on the to-do list, scratched off the to-do list, shopped for, greeted, thanked, tossed out, laundered, fluffed, folded, run or stopped.  How do you stop to smell the roses when that little voice in your head is yelling at you to fertilize, re-pot, trim, and deliver them to a sick friend in need instead?  Bottom line is that I've spent my time since my return from Bethesda endlessly trying to catch up on things that I didn't do while I was gone and that I probably don't need to do now that I'm back.  And yet, I persist...

I understand that it is much easier to let life sweep you along rather than fight the current for the things you think are important.  That's why we say we're too busy to exercise, or too tired to cook, or too old to sky dive.  You have to really make an effort to create the life you want and it's hard.  But I need to get back to reality here.  Life is short.  The good days that include happiness and joy are usually squashed in between those in which we are getting crapped on my some Universal irony that will only be fully understood and found amusing by us on our deathbed.  In the meantime, if the washing machine doesn't get it's monthly cleaning, the dog is late on his/her heartworm medication and the car windows are too dirty to see very well out of, so be it.  The world isn't going to end.  If you run out of hand soap at the kitchen sink, dish liquid will do.  And there is no crime to picking jeans up off the closet floor and wearing them to work...as long as they pass the smell test that is...

I look for your support by joining me in this endeavor.  Throw off the chains of convention and lighten up.  Disregard what you think the neighbors will say.  Stifle that voice in your head.  Laugh out loud at an inappropriate moment.  Wear slippers to the grocery store.  Most of all realize that the world won't end if you enjoy the moment instead of dissecting and sucking the life out of it.  Take it from me and appreciate how lucky you are every day and never, ever forget it.