Don't Forget Your Passions

As you look back on your life, what things do you remember? Other than the usual biggies like your wedding and perhaps your births of your children and stuff like that, what are some of the highlights of your life?

Years ago Bill and I drove to Chicago to see THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and we enjoyed it so much and I have never forgotten it. In fact, I can't stand to listen to a rendition of some of its most famous songs because then it lodges in my head for two weeks constantly playing over and over. And then we saw CATS and LES MISERABLES and they stand out in my memory too.

Bill took his mother to see OKLAHOMA once before we met and she never forgot that and would mention it with such fondness and I am sure it was one of the highlights of her life. We took Jewel to THE NUTCRACKER SUITE in Minneapolis once and Jon and Julie to hear the Golden Strings at the Radisson when they were too small to get in the lounge. But the orchestra director saw how they loved it so much and there was hardly anyone there so they let them in the foyer and left the doors open. They play the CD to this day.

Bill was always one to pass by special attractions as we traveled saying we would catch it later. Most times later never came. But once or twice we did catch something like the Field of Dreams in Iowa and also a genuine horse farm in Lexington, plus Churchill Downs. We also did go to the Washington D. C. area and there we did hit all the points of interest. I remember particularly seeing the capsule John Glenn rode into space and the Hope Diamond. At that time, you could still tour a goodly portion of the WHITE HOUSE . It is fun to see a TV reporter standing outside and think "I have been there" as I can at 10 Downing Street in London also.

You may all be wondering where this is going and my point is to stop and do the sometimes too expensive things. Though the cost at the time seems high, the value to the quality of your lives more than makes up for that. I feel my life has been so much richer because of these memories.
Perhaps the things that enrich your lives are entirely different. A camping trip, a ballgame, a ballet, a trip to someplace you always wanted to go, a concert --whatever.

But some time in your life while you still can, be extravagant, be impulsive, do something you really have a passion for and you will not have any regrets--nothing but joy that you did it. Don't wait for retirement or when you get too old to really enjoy the walking and sightseeing you want to do. Do it now while you are young. You will never rue the day.