Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they

haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know

it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who

passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back.

 From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

 How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't

 suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does

 the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?

 How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you

 watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going

to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I

have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known

yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal

favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have

lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our

headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves

when all the conditions are perfect!

 We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie

 toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet.

 We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

 Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter,

 and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer.

 One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a

 litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are

 settled down a bit."

 When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure

 and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her

 enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes,

 and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and

 skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

 My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years I love ice cream. It's

 just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula

 and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car

 and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way

 home, I would have died happy.

 Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to

 the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic

 flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through

 each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the

 reply?

 When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred

 chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it

 tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let

 a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?

 When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened

 gift....Thrown away... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the

 music before the song is over.

 If you'd like, feel free to show your friends how much you care.

 And.....To those who are reading this now... I cherish your friendships.