Take not a minute for granted, because that minute can never be replaced. Melody Carstairs, Fitness adviser.
As this column appears in the pages of The Press-Sentinel, one on a similar topic, written in 1976, runs on my website. In the old column, I complain about children not closing drawers nor cabinet doors. I was puzzled why it was such a difficult task for the young.
I wrote, “As infuriating as the contents of the drawers can be, one bane of every homemaker’s existence is the fact that the drawers are rarely closed. As far as children are concerned, drawers work only one way…they pull out. They never seem to learn that they move in the opposite direction just as easily. And if, by some mistake, the drawer is shoved closed, half the contents are left hanging out.”
I am happy to say that after all of our children were grown, they automatically shut their own cabinet doors and drawers. I don’t think I’ve heard any of them reprimand their own children about such inaction.
Today, 47 years later, I, who still like drawers closed tightly and cabinet doors fully shut, find myself continually shutting partially closed drawers and doors. Why? I know I went through the motions to close them. It’s a lifelong habit.
As I return to each storage place to close fully, I ponder my quandary. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m my own culprit these days. Hmmm…
In the past without any thought, I could push a drawer shut with a hip, or I could retrieve an item from a cabinet with one hand while closing the door immediately behind me with the other. These days evidently, my habit-driven movements aren’t physically strong enough to completely shut or close any drawer or door. What a disgusting dilemma.
But as I have convinced myself that I must make concerted effort to close a drawer or cabinet door without slamming it, an action that usually results in the door popping back open, I now wonder was this part of the young child’s inability to shut any door or drawer fully. Could physical limitations have been at least partially to blame? Of course, by the time our children were teenagers, they either had developed a habit of closing doors and drawers or they were strong enough to do so with one motion.
And for years until recently, I never stood in any room to appreciate the beautiful sight of having all the drawers and cabinet doors closed. Today, I scan a room to make sure I’ve completed my own task; then I bask in the tidiness.
Isn’t that the way life in general often works. When things run smoothly, when all the drawers and doors are closed, we rarely pay any attention. Life, as we believe it is supposed to be. Shouldn’t we knowingly appreciate these times of calm and serenity?
But human nature doesn’t seem to work that way. Author Cheryl Diamond says, “I've noticed people often complain about the monotony of life. How sometimes every day is just like the last and they all blend together. Do they know how lucky they are? But maybe that's the problem with a smooth pleasant routine, you begin taking it for granted.”
Whether we want them to or not, events have a way of turning life topsy turvy. As we struggle to regain control, regardless if the upset is large or small, we recognize how much in life we take for granted. But life doesn’t come with any guarantees. And as debilitating as taking things for granted can be, it’s even worse when we take people for granted.
Unfortunately the worst offended are usually our family members. We tend to take one another for granted.
British author and philosopher, Gilbert K. Chesterton reminds us, “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”
Appreciation, genuine gratitude, for all life’s blessings keeps us from taking each other for granted. From now on each time I walk over to shut a partially opened drawer or door, I’ll give thanks for my family. What a reminder.
2023
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