What A Life

An old Chinese Proverb goes like this, “If you want happiness for an hour – take a nap. If you want happiness for a day – go fishing. If you want happiness for a month – get married. If you want happiness for a year – inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime – help others.”

Maybe this is what Jesus was trying to teach us when he gave us the great commandment of love: “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

A while back, Lisa Beamer, the wife of Todd Beamer who said “Let’s Roll!” and helped take down the plane that was heading for Washington, D.C., appeared on Good Morning America. She said it is the little things that she misses most about Todd, such as hearing the garage door open as he came home, and her children running to meet him.

Lisa shared this story with her viewers: “I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat there.

“With a reflective look on her face, she paused and said, ‘Class is over. However, I would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to class, but I feel is very important. God put each of us here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment.’

“Perhaps this was her special way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day. Although her eyes filled with water, she went on, ‘So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice.

“‘It does not have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone’s house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.

“‘Please look for these things and cherish them. For although it may sound trite to some, these things are the “stuff” of life. It is the little things that they put us here on earth to enjoy. These are the things we often take for granted.’

“The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Occasionally, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

“Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset.

Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double-dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we did not do.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”