Your doctor calls you into the office to talk. The results of your lab test are in. You have approximately 6 weeks to live. He tells you to go home and get your affairs in order…what is going through your mind? I still want to live…I have so much more to do..I don’t want to leave my family. What is not going through your mind; I wish I would have spent more time at the office, I should have watched more TV, I wish I had a bigger car, house, etc.
We all get into our routines. We get into our comfort zones and don’t want to leave them. It is too comfortable there…we are used to it and change is uncomfortable. However, if you look back on some of the best times of your life, what was happening to you? More than likely, something new or different was taking place in your life. It may have been the day you learned to ride a bicycle, fell in love, your wedding day, or the day your child was born. It may have been during a trip to a place you had never visited before, or to a seaside destination that gave you renewal and peace of mind. All of these experiences take you out of your box. They all give you a new and fresh outlook on life and make you feel whole again.
If you are like most of us and are stuck in your box… going through the same routine every day, day after day… focused on our own little world, I highly recommend you do something new to break out of it and start enjoying your life...before it is over…the bigger the change the better. What have you always dreamed of doing? What would you love to do? I’m not just talking about taking a vacation. I’m talking about making a big difference in your life…breaking out of your box. Do something. It will give you clarity.
Traveling half way around the world and living in an orphanage with 132 children in a former communist country has changed my life. It has given me a new clarity about what is important and what is meaningful. It diminishes many of the things that I considered important in the past and makes them seem very trivial. It gives me an appreciation for the little things in life …the little simple things. We think we are poor if we don’t have 124 cable channels or the newest electronic gadget that our friends have…we are clueless that we are rich…so rich, that half the world can only dream of the things that we take for granted and enjoy every day. Mother Teresa said that the poorest people she ever met were the ones who had no one to love and care for them. Do you have someone who loves you and cares about you?....consider yourself rich.
Beautifully said! While I feel blessed to live in this country of plenty, I do not want to take it for granted, and we are constantly teaching our children the same message. It is a challenge. God bless you as your adoption journey continues.
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