...Erma Bombeck.., "At Wit's End" ...Best time to enjoy life? How about right now?...

[Stuart G]

Wednesday June 26, 1991, page 51, Chicago Sun Times....(I found this cleaning out a pile of stuff, and I wanted to share this with you...)
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At Wit's End,
Erma Bombeck..

.... I have a friend who lives by a three word philosophy. "Seize the moment." Just possibly she might be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy, just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too ridged to depart from the routine...
.... I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that night in an effort to "cut back." From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
....How many women out there will eat at home because their husband suggested they go out to dinner after something had been thawed? Does the word refrigeration have no meaning?
...How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat there in silence while you watched "Jeopardy"?
.... I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half an hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't." Check one: I have clothes on the line." "My hair is dirty." I wish I had known yesterday." "I had breakfast." "It looks like rain." And my personal favorite, "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.....
....Because Americans cram so much into our lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all conditions are perfect. We will go back and visit the grandparents...When we get Stevie toilet-trained. We will entertain when we replace the living room carpet. We will go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
...Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter and the lists of promises to ourselves get longer. One morning we awaken and all we have to show for our lives, is a litany of, "I am going to." "I plan on." " And someday when things are settled down a bit.."
...When someone calls my seize the moment friend, she is open to adventure, available for trips, and keeps an open mind on new idea. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious You talk with her for five minutes and you are ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungi cord.
....My lips have not touched ice cream for 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process........The other day I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car hit an iceberg on the way home, I'd have died happy.