WHAT ARE YOU MISSING?

What's The Big Idea?

"Don't hurry. Don't worry.
You're only here for a short visit.
So don't forget to stop and smell the roses." - Walter Hagen

A stranger in Wal-Mart yesterday attuned me to this "Stop-and-Smell-the-Roses" concept. Cruising through the produce section with my six- and four-year-old little guys, they both decided to sing--"IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR...!"--over and over and over and over again at nearly the top of their lungs. Can you hear this? Maybe this is why you've long ago sworn off Wal-Mart.

Now, I enjoy Christmas. I enjoy Christmas songs. But I like leaving all the Christmasy fanfare behind too, moving quickly on to Spring. I will not be accused of being out of season or out of touch. So this boisterous flash Christmas duet in the middle of January next to the bananas in Wal-Mart was somewhat embarrassing.  Embarrassing to me (I immediately tried shushing them up). But not at all embarrassing to my little guys. And certainly not to the stranger who overheard all this commotion. "Oh, let them sing. Let them sing" she implored me. So I paused... Listened... Smiled... And thus my attunement to what I was missing: the precious beauty of the present moment. Thank you Wal-Mart stranger.

So What?

What happened to me that day in Wal-Mart--that is, my recognition of what I was missing--reminds me of something that occurred a few years back midst the busyness of big city rush hour. Perhaps you remember this true story...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. It was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about forty-five minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

The one who paid any real attention was a three-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the child stopped to look at and listen to the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the forty-five minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About twenty gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. Watch a portion of what happened...

http://youtu.be/UM21gPmkDpI

No one knew it at the time but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate musical pieces ever written on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway he sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each.

Now What?

Do we see beauty, especially in unexpected places? Do we stop to appreciate it, even for a moment? If we don't take the opportunity to stop and enjoy one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? Probably a lot, as the Joshua Bell experiment suggests.

So to help you stop missing those subtle yet beautiful things in your life, allow me to make a few suggestions that you can put it into practice today. [I've adapted these from Dani at Positively Present.]

1. Climb out of your rut as often as possible. Go outside rather than stay inside. Drive a new way to work rather than the same old way. Drink your root beer at room temperature rather than refrigerator cold (my favorite!). Or look up from your shopping cart and notice your children's faces.

2. Pay attention to the little things. Use another of your five senses (your sense of smell, for example) to notice stuff rather than the one you typically use. Dwell on that special way a family member makes your life much easier rather than on that way he or she annoys you. Or turn down the cacophony  in the produce aisle and turn up the sweetness of your children's voices.

3. Stop rushing and slow down. Aggressively evaluate how much of that weekend have-to-get-done busyness is 1) have-to (i.e., essential), and 2) get-done (i.e., essential now). Take extra time to really taste your food and drink. Walk instead of drive. Or instead of racing through the grocery store simply checking off the task, join in your children's expressions of likes, dislikes,wonder and singing.

S.a.t.S.