Time flies by so fast. Months...days...hours...minutes. In my mind I can still feel myself in high school. Pulling in to my parking space...homework...football games. It's all long gone. Now I see my kids going through all that. They have no idea how true "it will be gone before you know it" really is, do they?
These last few months have been some what better for me. Letting go of all the baggage that was weighing me down for the past two years is starting to pay off. My chest doesn't seem as tight any more. My heart doesn't ache night and day anymore. Although, the gray hairs still seem to be popping up more rapidly then I would like, it could be worse.
I have permanent walls that have been put up due to certain circumstances. I don't think they will ever be torn down. But the circle that I have surrounded myself with is just...well...amazing. I have some of the coolest friends in the world! My family is straight up-AWESOME. I am so grateful for the people in my life and I hope that they can feel my appreciation and love.
In this life we are only given a one way ticket. No refunds. No rain checks. Born naked and screaming-heres a diaper and some milk-now GO! If we are taught right-we are taught to love. Some of us aren't folks...you know a few. We are taught that money means nothing, family means everything. We are taught that happiness is about who makes you laugh until you wanna pee not who leaves you aching for days. Simple things always out way the complicated-dont believe me-just watch on Christmas day at the baby playing with the box while the dad takes 2 hours to assemble the product.
We live in a complicated world. People are shady these days. Trust is gone. Back in the day a hand shake took care of a lot of issues...fights, deals, promises. Now that is not the case. Giving of ourselves seems...strained. It difficult for us to justify why we should stop for the car broken down on the side of the road, or slide our change in the jar for the charity at the store. When someone was sick getting a casserole in the oven was priority. Now days, we wait to be asked to step up and do things. Even then-we find ourselves hesitant on giving-whether its justifying the time or having the right attitude.
Now I am not saying that we should just pull over and jump out every time we see a car with their hazards on. Nor am I saying that we should empty our pockets whenever we are asked to give money. But sometimes folks it doesn't cost us anything to be kind. Sometimes just offering help means more then anything to people.
I know it's impossible but I wish we could go back to the way things use to be. And the "way things use to be" has it's own definition to everyone. I think of my Maw Maw's store. It was right off of Hwy 11. Just a little country store that sold hoop cheese and BBQ sandwiches. SHE would pump your gas and if you didn't have enough money to pay for it she would put it on your tab. I remember what the wooden screen door sounded like when it would slam shut. I can remember the old men sitting around the heater playing checkers. The rocking chairs on the front that Rag Mop Mobley (yes, we called him Rag) would fall asleep in as he watched the cars pass by.
If you knew my Maw Maw you were blessed. She was a blessing. She didn't have much...sometimes she had nothing but she loved and treated everyone the same. She believed what you said and she expected the same from you. I think she would be very confused with how things were today. She would be hurt and probably disgusted with the way things were done. But none of that would change how she reacted to the world or how she treated people.
There's only one way to keep that "use to be" alive. We must live it. We are the only ones who can teach our children and others about being simple, kind, good hearted. Playing with a water hose has been replaced with going to a public pool with slides and big floats. Waving at your neighbor and asking how there day was has been replaced with having no eye contact and seeing who can get to the front door first. We get so caught up in the rapids. Life is a journey. We are going so fast that we don't take time to appreciate it. We don't take time to consume it.
Life is also a vapor. Here today...gone tomorrow. Money is the cheapest thing we have in life. Family, friends and sharing this journey with others is what matters. Giving, if just a little, may last someone a lifetime. Many people did not know Maw Maw. However, if you did know her-if only but for a minute-you never forgot her. We should want people to say that about us.
What will people remember about you? How many hours you worked? What brand of clothes you wore? How much you saved with your coupons? No. They will more then likely remember how you made them feel. How you took time out of your day to give back. I want to give back. I want people to feel the love that flows through my veins. Its electric. Maw Maw was electric. She had more energy in her then an entire pack of GE bulbs.
Set an example for people. This world will never be the way it use to be. Life will never be as simple as a Friday night football game. It will never be as fun as a trip to the store on the back of a truck. We won't be able to trust like we did nor believe that someone will pay you just because they said they would but we can show the world how good people still are capable of being. We owe it to the generation behind us. But we also owe it to the one that is ahead of us.
I hope that we enjoy this ride we are on. We don't get to get off and then go to the back of the line for round two. Make the most of your trip. Reach out and shock somebody! :)
