Too many of us put off things that bring us joy and happiness just because we have no time, don't have it on our schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from our routine.

I got to thinking one day about all my wonderful friends and family that are no longer with me today. If only I had of... If only they had of... Our memories stay with us for a lifetime, but our loved ones may not. From now on, I'll try to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until 'after' something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean anything to you?

How many dads out there will pass up the opportunity to play with their son or daughter because "I have to read the newspaper." or some such excuse.

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' or 'Star Trek' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my best friend and said, "How about going to lunch in half an hour?" She would stutter and stammer and say, "I can't. I have clothes in the wash. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday. I had a late breakfast. It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "Don't be crazy, it's Monday!" She died a year ago and we never did have lunch together.

We cram so many trivial things into our lives; we tend to schedule our own headaches... We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves or others when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go to 'Disney World' when we get the baby toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get the kids out of college.

Have you ever noticed how life has a way of speeding-up as we get older? The days get shorter and the list of promises to ourselves and others get longer. One morning we wake-up and all we have to show for our lives is a long list of "I'm going to..."; "I plan on..."; and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit, we will..."

When anyone calls my 'imaginary friend', she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. I'm striving to be that imaginary friend!

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I LOVE chocolate ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, at least I would have died happy.

Now...go on and make yourself happy. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? So, why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry-go-round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask, "How are you?", do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say, "Hi"?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift...thrown away... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for...
but while we are here, we might as well dance!"