Just Breathe

This goat reminds us to simply stop and smell the roses

No actual roses involved here. Sorry. But there's a story. :-) 

Often in our life with the humdrum routine, especially when we have jobs to do or family to take care of (or both) we tend to get lost in our cyclic tasks and those endless responsibilities. We strive because we want to be good (if not perfect) at everything. What we do, seems to be just running running running like the hamster in his wheel because of the inescapable fact that hangs above our head, we can't simply erase the goals we set, we can't just quit our job, shut down our business or push our children back in to where they came from. And as if those factors aren't prime enough, we also realise our time is slipping away day by day, which makes us then going faster instead of slowing down therefore it is difficult or even impossible to step off that wheel. Many times, the faster we go the more we lose track and sight of what is the priority, what is important, what is matter and what not. 

However, while it is difficult or impossible to get off, what I think what we can do is, despite knowing our life is moving at a rapid speed on the fast lane, we can try to take a break from the rushing, from the massive to-do lists and spend some times to do simple things and/or find the kind of happiness that occures in everyday things such as, to name a few, looking at your neighbours' garden what they have, go for a walk, choose a movie to watch, connecting more with children, calling family members or friends who live abroad, looking at old photographs and remembering some of those embarrassing moments, take a deep breath under a nice warm shower, trying out new things or even just to sip a glass of good cold beer. Find the time to give ourselves a good assessment in oder to get to know more or to discover more deeply what do we really want out of this life, what do we want to archieve, what details in the whole picture that are missing and need to be filled or to appreciate all the details. We are supposed to see more of what are missing when we slow down to take a look around and by doing so we feel more connected whether to ourselves or the outside world.

I do remember what my mother once said, the world itself is already hectic enough and things around us are crazy enough why do we need to be hard on ourselves too? So, the "stop and smell the roses" philosophy is not at all bad and you should try it if you haven't already. - Because also, in the end on the deathbeds, nobody would say "Darn it, I wish I had spent more time in the workplaces or running in circle for the living". The bills, the hundreds of emails, the postponing meetings will still be there if you miss it for a minute but the roses might be wilted already by that time. The flowers bloom, and we don't notice? That's not very nice, is it? :-) Moreover, the stolen hours and the time that are well-spent, are not wasted.

I put on my brave face and go to smell my rose and you do too.