It's the Little Things

This post is a food for thought kind of post. Here we go. . .

A couple of weeks ago (yes, that's how long I have been simmering on this post) I had the pleasure of getting a mani/pedi. I finally used a gift card I got for my birthday and I relaxed and enjoyed the moment. When I got there, it was very slow, only two other women having pedi's too. I sat back, looked at a magazine and enjoyed the quiet. While I was sitting there the place began to fill up and before I knew it almost all the chairs were full.

In the mix of ladies coming in, there was a mother daughter combo. You could tell they were both anticipating their pedi's. ~Bear with me, I am going somewhere with this~ She [Mom] came in all excited and in her hand was her phone. Not shocking, I carry my phone in hand as well. She told the lady in a very excited voice, "today is her [the daughter] 12th birthday, we are here for birthday pedi's." They got settled in, mother beside me and daughter on the other side of mother. ~Pardon me, but I must set the scene~ I closed my eyes and thought to myself to just enjoy the last remaining time I have in this chair. I heard the daughter quietly chatting and the mother's "uh huh, mmmm, yes" responses. At first I didn't think too much about it, I was focused on my feet and how marvelous they felt. A few minutes went by and I heard the daughter saying, "Mom, mom, oh mom" but no response. I opened my eyes and what do you think I saw?? Mom, sitting in the chair, texting. She had not yet put down her phone. Her daughter couldn't even get her attention. Immediately I thought to myself, "wow, you can't stop texting long enough to enjoy your time with your daughter and have conversation with her on her birthday?"

It got me thinking about how many moments in life we miss because we are texting, facebooking or tweeting. A friend of mine told me she wasn't a fan of smart phones because people facebook about what they are doing with their family instead of just being with their family (because you know you can't get on fb and just post, you will read through some statuses of your friends). That comment she made came flying into my memory as I observed this mother/daughter combo.

I left the salon with really happy feet and hands, but I was thinking about what I may have missed because I thought I was too busy with my ______________ (fill in the blank). How many little things did I miss, little moments in time that I will never get back because I was too wrapped up in what I thought was important. I think sometimes we, I know this is true for me, get so busy with stuff that we forget to be present, really present, everyday. The greatest happiness I will have will probably not be a really cool status update of one of my friends (though I enjoy a good status update as much as the next person, it isn't a source of great joy, laughter yes, great and lasting joy, no). The greatest joy (besides God, that should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway) I have is to really live in the present, taking in all the crazy, funny, sad, thought provoking, challenging, happy, surprising, gentle, loving, caring moments in life. It's what makes up life, you can't throw out the bad without throwing out it all. Really taking it all in, relishing the moments I'm given. Kissing boo-boo's, giving and getting AWESOME hugs from my little ones, passing out time in the naughty spot as needed, teaching Bible stories, staying up with a sick child just to make them comfy, answering 70 billion questions per day on every topic imaginable until I think my brain might explode, talking about boys being cute (oh Lord, Heaven help us now she is only 10), doing home spa treatments with a giggly 10 year old, hearing Sam tell of his inventions and Daniel talk about his friends Bob and Larry and Makiah discuss every Hello Kitty item available in the world for purchase, even potty training and all the good, bad and crazy moments that are too come. Every moment counts. I don't want to look back and say, "man I missed that time in my life because I was too busy reading on facebook and twitter what everyone else was doing in their life".

I want to look back and say, "I took in all the moments I could contain." I really lived present. Present every day, every moment. See, it's those little things that slip through and we miss. It's the little things.

~~DISCLAIMER~~This is not a slam against facebook, twitter or any other social networking site. I still facebook and tweet. I am not saying you should never ever facebook or tweet about your life and family because I do, but I also don't want to be so busy telling of all this cool family time or date night time that I miss the time. That is all. :)~~~~~