A Moment of Real 1 (Thanksgiving pt. 2)

Over this Thanksgiving break I took a moment to experience the real. This real I speak of is family and friends. In life I feel we get caught up with the superficial and material that seems to fill our every waking hour. We are caught up with so many things that distract us from what's real. We tend to be driven by our wants all the time and we don't concentrate on what we have. Yes for the most part our wants alter our lives for the better but that is not always the case. Wants feed into human nature and honestly we become consumed by our own greed. Family and friends are the antidote. I think people have forgotten what really matters in life. Being surrounded by family and friends this break was like a breath of fresh air, that much needed timeout from the everyday struggles.

This year at my house Thanksgiving shrunk from the usual extravaganza to a small family dinner. The funny part though is that no matter how exclusive we tried to make the event we still ended up with a few what I call "stragglers". Regardless of what we were expecting we still accepted everyone with open arms. It wasn't until we got to our Thanksgiving ritual of going around letting everyone say what their thankful for that I realized my family had grown. The stragglers were no longer stragglers they were full fledged members of the family. Everyone should spend Thanksgiving in a loving environment.

Wise birds-no straggler left behind

Continuing on though as we went down the line we heard the usual answers "I'm thankful for family, health, friends...etc". Eventually it came around to my mom and she simply said "I am thankful for time". At first my aunt took it as holidays and the time we get to spend with each other, but my mom began to explain exactly what she meant. She explained that people whether it be family/friends or whatever in all relationships we have assumed responsibilities and minimum requirements to keep up with people. Time is the one thing that sets everything apart. Those around you who invest time are the ones who truly care. Those are the ones that matter. Someone who invests time in you is someone who truly cares. Time is the only thing we have no control over it never stops for anything. We could die any day and when we die we can take nothing with us, but what do you want to leave behind? Everyone around me knows that one of my biggest fears is being a "shoulda woulda" type of person, my mom especially. When my mothers card is called I will be sad but I wont regret anything because I will have invested the time and the return will be infinite. I invest as much time as possible into the people I love and care for. Whether they want to give me their time too is totally up to them, but I make the effort, because they are worth it to me. So I say to you if you love someone and care for them invest the time, trust me you will not regret it. Time is the currency that we never truly know are worth in. So spend it wisely, because when bankruptcy hits you want to know that your investments will continue to progress long after your gone. LYM(leave your mark) on lives its the most permanent thing you can do. It lasts longer than anything you can see, hear, or touch. So spend the time; invest it in family, friends, or whoever else is worth it. Save money, spend time....