A Block of Ice Falling From The Sky

Whew! Well it has been a flash of time since the last time I was here – JUNE 4. Our last post was about wanting to have fun. It seems as though just as I hit the publish button on that post, life propelled me into space. Since then, just like a shot in the dark, I’ve been hurtling through the air not sure of the target.

Now it’s a week before Thanksgiving and we are staring down the last of 2009. How does this happen? I am fascinated once again by the speed of life. How is it that we go from children whose only “job” is to play all day to not having any time to “play” at all?

I read today that a block of ice fell from the sky straight through the roof of someone’s home in Colorado. It landed smack dab in their kitchen, where they had been sitting just a few moments prior.

I teach a course on time management. In that course I talk about how we all have only 1440 minutes every single day. It is the universal equalizer. What we choose to do with those 1440 minutes is what makes the difference.

So why am I talking about fun, hurtling through space, shots in the dark, children playing, blocks of ice and 1440 minutes? Well, as my husband and I were sharing our evening television ritual, and discussing the accomplishment vs. yet to do list during the commercials, with my lap top in my lap, and his on his armrest, surrounded by paperwork that I absolutely “have to get to”, I saw the story about the block of ice.

I hit the “pause button” on all our activity. For the next few moments I remembered and reminded my husband about the blocks of ice we have experienced in our life. One moment you are sitting at your kitchen table having tea with your daughter, laughing, planning, enjoying the moment and the very next second a block of ice is crashing through your ceiling – perhaps crushing that exquisite tea pot that was displayed so perfectly on the center of the table.

The point; nothing is promised – not our next year, next month, tomorrow or even the very next millisecond. And I am amazed that no matter how many times I am reminded of this fact, I still find myself getting lost in the blur of life, unsure of the target as I sail blindly through the dark, cold, night sky.

So here we are, Thanksgiving a week away and counting down to the holidays and the end of another particularly challenging year. We will get busier as we “bustle” around with our holiday “to do” lists. We will get tired and impatient and some of us, well, we will become ill or recover from illness or sitting by the bed of someone as, hopefully, they heal from an illness.

The weekend attitude adjustment this week is simply this – remember that at any moment a block of ice can fall from the sky and crash through your kitchen ceiling. Do your best to keep the reason of the season in your heart. Enjoy the pot of tea, put away the papers, make eye contact with everyone you see. And smile. Choose to connect as your target for the next several weeks. Guide your own path and consciously navigate instead of blindly flying through the air. We do only get 1440 minutes every day – how will you choose to use yours?

Until next time I remain…
Joyfully yours,
Mary Elizabeth