Let's roll

bren.1

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I got this in an email and wanted to share it.

This is little sad but an important lesson!

Lisa Beamer on Good Morning America - If you remember, she's the
wife of Todd Beamer who said 'Let's Roll!' and helped take down the
plane that was heading for Washington D. C. She said it's the
little things that she misses most about Todd, such as hearing the
garage door open as he came home, and her children running to meet
him. She's now the Mom of a beautiful little girl, Mary.

Lisa recalled this story:
I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose
husband died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his
death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students.

As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom
windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on
the edge of her desk and sat down there. With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, "Class is over, I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important.

"Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate
and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience
will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is the powers way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day."

Her eyes, beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all
to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your
way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be
something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked
bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the
breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.

"Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it
may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The
little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at anytime...it can all be taken away.

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed
out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on
my way home from school than I had that whole semester.

Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an
impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those
things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today.
Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way
home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older,
it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

Remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
 

debby

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Oh that was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And you know...I think most of us are guilty of taking so many things in life for granted. There's an old poem my grandma told me once, and it says in one line.."I complained about not having any shoes, until I met a man who had no feet"

I think we tend to overlook how blessed we are, just to be able to wake up every morning and see the sun, or the clouds, or hear a bird sing. And have our loved ones return home every day to us, and to be healthy. It is so easy to think about all the things we "don't" have, rather than concentrate on what we do have. It is sad that it sometimes takes a major catastrophe in our lives to make us realize what we had that we had not appreciated nearly enough.

I am guilty of complaining about things as well....and not taking time to notice all the beauty in life that is around me everyday, and all the things I have to be thankful for.

Thank you for this thread...I am going to try to pay special attention to some of the things I take for granted....and notice more of the beauty around me. We never know when it might end, and when our time on earth is up. We should enjoy it while we can!
 

ldg

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Brenda, that was really beautiful. Thank you for sharing Lisa's story. I've been blessed with a pretty easy-going and positive attitude about life. I thank God and the universe every day for what I have, no matter what kind of mood I'm in when I wake up. It is a poignant tale, from someone who had so much taken away from her. And it is all summed up so neatly:

========================================================================
"Remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
========================================================================

Thank you. Think I'll go shuffle in the grass without my shoes on and get hubby to get that telescope out tonight!

 

colleen

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That was beautiful. Each day I am thankful for seeing the green in the trees, the blue in the sky and the wind on my face. I have been blessed in many ways and pray I never take them for granted and God keeps smiling down on me.
 

spooky

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Thank you so much for sharing that. It truly was beautiful.
I am one of the quilty ones who has just let life pass on by from day to day and not really appreciated all of the little things that life has to offer. From now on, I am going to take the time to appreciate even the smallest things in life, because we never know when they will be taken away from us.

I think that I am going to sit in front of the window later and smell the fresh scent of rain and just appreciate the fact that I am alive today to enjoy this experience.
 

jeanie g.

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That teacher was so wise. If I'm feeling down I just have to go outside and look. The world is so beautiful and so complex that it's beyond our understanding, but it reassures us that we are loved infinitely. Why do flowers have to be beautiful and so varied? Most of them are not edible or useful to science, but are so pleasing to the human eye. Of course, bees make honey from them, but bees would make honey if there was only one variety. Instead, there are innumerable flowers in various patterns and colors, and we will never see them all in our lifetime. Nature, whether in its simplicity or grandeur is reassurance that we are never alone or unloved. Thank you, Lord.
 
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