Re: Stop to smell the roses

[Guest guest]

Subject: Fw: Stop to smell the roses

I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husbanddiedsuddenly of a heart attack.About a week after his death, she shared some of he feelings with aclassroomof students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through theclassroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few thingsasideon the edge of her desk and sat down there.With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, "Beforeclass is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought that isunrelated to class, but which I feel is very important.Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and giveofourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It canbe taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is God's way of telling us thatwemust make the most out of every single day. Her eyes beginning to water,shewent on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, yourway to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. Itdoesn't have to be something you see - it could be a scent-perhaps offreshlybaked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of thebreeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morninglight catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please lookfor these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite tosome,these things are "the stuff" of life. The little things we are put here onearth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make itimportant to notice them, for at any time... it can all be taken away."The class was completely quiet. We all picked upour books and filed out of the room silently. Thatafternoon, I noticed more things on my way home fromschool than I had that whole semester. Every once in awhile, I think of that teacher and remember what animpression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of thosethingsthat sometimes we all overlook.Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Gobarefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonighttoget a double-dip ice cream cone. For as we get older it is not the thingswedid that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.If you like this, please pass it on to a friend,if not just delete it and go on with your life!Life is not measured by the number of breaths wetake, but by the moments that take our breath away.