Mine every day for the joy it holds

A kookaburra on our clothes line yesterday.

There is always two sides to every coin, yin - yang, balance. In an attempt to balance yesterday's post, I offer this:

It is important now in these difficult days to remember that even though times are tough now, and may get tougher, we still have it in our power to get the most out of every day. Money, or the lack of it, shouldn't be our sole focus. Every day is part of your life, every minute should be lived well. When this day is over, well, it's over. If you don't live today to its full potential, you can't go back to it in five years time because you left a big space in today.

Now more than ever we should find joy in what we're doing and model that joy to our families and friends. Yes, I might be scrimping and saving, but I have my family, a roof over my head and I have decent work to do. My work now is to help my family live well with less and to be thankful that I live where I live and have the freedom to do what I choose, to write my blog, feed my chooks, bake good bread and be the best person I can be.

I was reminded of this important philosophy early this morning when I received an email from Michelle, a reader who has just started her own blog. She sent me her blog address and I decided on a quick visit before I started my post. Good luck with the blog, Michelle, and thank you for your kind words. However, the thing that touched me most when I read that first post what the paragraph from the Love of Nie blog that stated:

"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. {or if I could enter here- the basket-head mother syndrome} She said: "The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make... I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less"

Oh, I do wish I'd written that because it is written in my heart. I too wish I'd captured more than I did of my children's young years - "I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less" That really speaks to me. You know that I'm a woman of 60 years and that I regret very little in my life, but that is a regret - that I didn't watch and play more. I don't know if I'm being too hard on myself, because there was a lot of playing and watching, and touching a sleeping face gently, and books being read and giggling. Maybe it's the tyranny of age that has loosened my grip on those memories. But the point is to make sure you make those memories every day, if not with your children, then with your partner, or friends, or pets.

Mine every day for the joy it holds and store that inside yourself.

Later today I'll be returning to the Nie blog to read about their horrible accident and to get to know Stephanie and Mr Nielson through the reposting of parts of her blog. There is some fund-raising going on to help the family recover as best they can and I encourage you to take some time today to read that blog and maybe get involved in the fund-raising. Stephanie's accident is a stark reminder of the fragile nature of all our lives. I wish Stephanie and her husband a complete recovery. Thank you to Michelle for showing me the way to the Nienie blog.