People always seem to be in such a hurry, everywhere I go.?

Always rushing to get to the next thing, as if someone is holding a stopwatch over their head, timing them to the second.

When I lived downtown I expected it, but here, nearly 50 miles from the city, I kind of thought life would be a little slower, and a little more forgiving.

Recently, on the Fourth of July, my neighbor was coming in late, around 9:30 in the evening, with her two children (who are just lovely, I might add). As usual she was rushing them along, trying to keep everything in order, and seemed as if she was held inches above the abyss by a very thin string.

Her children, of course, being children, had stopped to watch the fireworks display they were putting on at the park down the street. Her son, about three or four, kept saying, mommy, mommy, look at the fireworks! His voice had the excitement that only a four year old's voice can contain.

She scooped him up quickly, and rushed him inside with a 'come on, sweetie, it's late,' and never even turned for a moment to enjoy the wonderous display in the sky, not even for a couple of seconds.

I felt so badly for her in that moment, my heart just broke.? I said to myself, but you're missing the best part!?My neighbor adores her children and would do anything for them, but she never seems to find the time to just enjoy them, to see the world through their eyes, and how beautiful it really is.

I also realized that I see this happening to people everywhere I go.

We, all of us, need to find the time to enjoy our lives.? Living is not all about working, and making dinner, washing clothes and dishes, checking homework and the million other things we have to do every day.

The important things are the brief, passing moments of pure joy, like watch five minutes of fireworks with your son, and that beautiful sunrise before the long, grueling commute to work in the morning.

Too often in life the things we think are the most important leave us empty, and stressed out -- stretched thin and ready to snap like a rubber band stretched to its limits.

The things that really are important, the ones that make life worth living, and stay sweet in our memories when we grow old, go completely unnoticed until it's much too late.

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