THE THINGS WE DO NOT DO

There is an old saying that at the end of our lives, it isn’t necessarily the things we have done that we might regret, but the things we did not do.  Now we all have instances of stupid or foolish things we have done, that we regret, that we wish we hadn’t done.  But most of those are not terrible things, simply regrettable acts that happen to us as humans, because of immaturity or inexperience or ignorance or a combination of any of the three.

On the other hand, it is an unfortunate aspect of human nature that so many times we postpone and postpone even the simplest things.  A wise writer, Erma Bombeck, wrote a wonderful essay years ago urging us all to use our candles, our ‘good dishes’, our most cherished items rather than putting them away for ‘special occasions’.  In other words, she urged us to try to make every day a ‘special occasion’.   

Now I cannot sit here, even after all these decades after I first read that good advice, and state that I have followed it.  I can plead the rush and distractions and demands of everyday life, or just plain old laziness, or any of a number of excuses and reasons, but, I can also, by writing these words, remind my own self of this advice, and I can start, right now, to follow it.