I was having a conversation last night with Mister about how the human condition is a struggle to come to terms with our own mortality.  In that, it seems like we’re trying to accomplish so much that sometimes we miss out on the finer points in life – the time spent to yourself on the sofa with a magazine and a cocktail.

He told me that his philosophy in this regard is simple:  It’s not about taking on the world, doing everything and solving every problem known to man, because your legacy will largely go unnoticed while you’re still hard at work – and how fun is that?  He said “I don’t care about prestige or glory – its not about eating the whole pie, it’s about carving out a slice and leaving room for ice cream.  It’s life à la mode!”

(I hope life à la mode involves this brownie! Yum!)

When you think about it, what he’s saying makes sense.  In our present we’re making lists of things to do today, things to do next week, and things to do before we die – but that could happen tomorrow, so we’re supposed to live each day to it’s fullest.

Yet, we’re so embroiled in achieving this and that before we expire that we hardly recognize the beauty in what exists now.  We’re trying to get to this magic thing or situation that will forever make our lives worth living, while forgetting that it’s the journey that really counts towards our character.  We live life to it’s fullest, filling our time with so-called “fulfilling” activities, without a moment to just be, to enjoy our slice of the pie.  Not to say achieving is bad, but it’s like we’re constantly overfilling our schedules to try and get somewhere before the inevitable happens, and we’re missing out on days, weeks or months worth of memories.  We seem to forget about our personal slice, and we forget how amazing life is with a little dollop of ice cream, or time to ourselves to live our dreams and to enjoy life.

For example, our vacation times are packed with seeing people, doing things, and going places with little regard to what a vacation is really supposed to be – time off to relax.  When we try to relax, we do so with our laptops or our cell phones, missing the entire point of why we left in the first place (to get away from it all).  We spend our weekends working for this person or that cause or doing homework – to get ahead – only to look back on the weekend come Monday morning, and think, “Where does the time go?”  Think about it – when was the last time you laid around all day in your cozy bed… to catch up on a good book or the much needed sleep you’ve been missing out on?  What do you spend your weekends or vacations doing?

Personally, I’ve not spent a day lazing around in bed since… the day after my last birthday and that’s only because the day after my birthday is a holiday and the world is hungover anyhow.  And though I’ve been on a few trips this year, they’re mostly tools for me to see friends and distant relatives, or for me to do some thing while I’m away.  I start to envy the “stay-cation” folks, who spend vacation time lounging around the house.

SO to you, (and actually to myself, while I’m writing this) I ask – what constitutes your little dollop of ice cream?  Are you out and achieving all the time?  Are you following your dreams and living life to the fullest? And at what cost – is it a lack of free time?  How can you live life to the fullest, if you don’t have a moment to enjoy any of it?  I think it’s important to remember that it’s less about what you achieve than what you learn while you’re on your way.  And it’s important to bask in that experience of learning, growth and journey, or you’ll look back on a life that passed you by while you weren’t watching.

I’m not, by any means, telling you to become a slacker.  I’m just saying that sometimes, it’s not about getting the whole pie – it’s about having your slice, to yourself, à la mode.

Related posts:

1. There IS Life…
2. New Year, New Focus
3. Are We Ever Satisified?

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