It happened at the most unexpected moment.... I was in a hurry (as usual), and I ran into the Kroger by my work in Dallas. It was a co-workers birthday and I need a cake, card and plant of some sort, Pronto! I briskly weave in and out of people, grab the items needed and walk to the first register I see open. The cashier, although she smiled and was pleasant, took her sweet time ringing up the 4 items I had purchased - she was so sweet, so it was impossible to be anything but kind back to her, but in my head I was freaking out, thinking "OMG!! Could you scan those ANY slower?!?" - but my mother would be proud because I just smiled back at her as she slowly told me my total and slid the items to the end of the belt. It was at that moment, that I noticed the gentleman standing at the end of the belt, waiting to load my four items into a bag for me. He was probably mid-forties, dressed very humbly, and standing there in such a way that made it apparent that he was a special needs adult. Instantly my heart softened, I smiled at him as warmly as I could, while still being completely consumed with my business of getting the birthday items for my co-worker. He began talking to me, but I struggled to understand a single word that he said - it was loud and busy, compounded by the trouble he had articulating, (he sounded much like Adam Sandler in one of my all-time favorite movies, "Waterboy"), so I just smiled again and nodded politely.
I have always been moved by the grocery stores who hire these amazing adults to work for them. I admire their dedication to the extra effort and work it requires of them to employ these very important and valued members of our society. But today, I did not have time to chit chat with this gentleman. No, today I was busy. Too busy to take a few minutes to slow down - after-all, I am a working mother! I have my job to do at work, which truly needs about 8-9 hours a day to get it all accomplished, and done well. Then after I get off work, it's a mad dash to get home, get dinner cooked and cleaned up, do the laundry, the dishes, get the 3 little ones to their various team sports, get lunches, homework and everything else prepared for the next day; then somewhere around 10:00 P.M., I am lucky if I just get a few minutes of the news before I collapse onto my bed and do it all over again the next day... So, as hard as I may try to "see" around me, and to notice the people and things around me, most days are a blur and I am just happy if I am alive and can sit on the couch, in an upright position each night! So you can see now, I just did not have time today...
I walk to the end of the cashier line, and wait for this man to hand me my bags so that I can go and get back to my business for the day. He raises his arms to hand the bags to me, but as I placed my hands on them, he does not let go. I am a little thrown off by this, so I look up at him and smile and say, "thank you so much, I've got it, you can let go." He bends down, as if to tell me a secret, but then spoke in his regular audible tone and said three words to me that are still ringing in my ears. He smiled a crooked, simple smile and in his own way, articulation struggles and all, he says to me, "Enjoy your life!". I smiled, thanked him and exited the store.
On the drive back to work, the entire scene kept replaying in my mind, over and over again. It was almost like time stood still for a brief moment.... then, when that brief moment was over, a flood over emotions came over me as I repeated in a whisper "enjoy your life", "enjoy your life", "enjoy your life".
Typically, I have always made sure that I am never too busy to enjoy the little things. I will always pause my house work or duties, if one of my kids wants to tell me a story, or show me something outside, or the never ending, "Mom! Come watch me do this trick on my bike!".... oh yes, at the Wilson house we are full of tricks and talent and it is exhausting! :) But the last few weeks, I have let the busyness of life take over. I began to ponder all of these things - I will be the first to admit, it is such a hard balance to keep - enjoying the little things in life, while keeping up with the responsibilities of being an employee, wife, mom, daughter, sister, mentor, friend... the list goes on and on... It is the struggle that every mother, working inside the home or in an office, deals with. Constant pressure to prove that you can be a mom and a professional. The pressure to separate myself for 8-10 hours a day from being "mom" into a sophisticated woman, who is proper, well dressed and has it all together; then about 5:00 or 5:30, I must morph back into being "mom", yoga pants and all! (the yoga pants are optional, this is just for my own comfort and happiness). The many hats that we wear in this life, whatever our trade, calling or purpose we are fulfilling - we change them frequently, and do not even get me started on how crazy it gets when we lose one of our many hats! Can I get an Amen from all the parents out there?! ;) But today, I was reminded by a man that spends most of his days invisible to most who pass by him; that life is beautiful and needs to be enjoyed! In honor of this man, whose name I do not know, I will "enjoy my life" however chaotic or exhausting it is... because I believe that this man, is probably one of the few Americans who really even knows what it means to enjoy life. No, he does not have to yell at his kids in the morning because someone has lost their homework, he does not have to run the forgotten lunch up to the middle school for the umpteenth time this year! I would imagine that he does not have to rush home and do the many things that must be done daily by me, to make sure that the family is fed, clothed, clean and healthy; nor does he have to try to be a good spouse at the end of each day - so of course his idea of "enjoy your life" is going to be very different than mine. ........or is it? Simple wording of my last couple of sentences could change the entire meaning of what I just said....
...No, he does not have four healthy, beautiful children entrusted to his care, that he gets to help teach how to deal with the stress of responsibility, he does not get to run the forgotten lunch up to the middle school, and get to see his daughter in her own element, smiling, laughing with her friends and eating lunch! I would imagine that he does not get to rush home and spend his evenings making sure that the family is fed, clothed, clean and healthy; nor does he get to sit down and love on his spouse at the end of each day...
What a difference the change of wording makes...or a change in perception....
This is what I will do today, in honor of my very own "Waterboy" encounter. I will enjoy my life today. I will soak in every hug, smile and kiss I receive from my kids this afternoon. I will stop running around my house like a maniac this evening, long enough to kiss my husband (who is my God-send and my rock!); and I will enjoy the task of making dinner, thankful that, although my husband is unemployed at this time, I have food to cook and feed to my family. I will spend time outside watching Cayden master his soccer skills; I will sit on the piano bench with Cole while he practices his music; and I will go on a run with Kennedy while she builds up her running skills. If my two oldest stop by the house, I will sit down and listen to all the details of their day, laugh at their never-ending funny stories, and enjoy them just "being there" with me.
It is so easy to let the busyness of life get the best of us, no one is excluded from that, and it has happened to all of us at one time or another... but today...... Today I will do as I was instructed by a stranger in a grocery store - I will "Enjoy My Life" to the fullest, then tomorrow, I will get up and enjoy it again....
Happy Tuesday Dallas!
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