Time flies. For those of you who find that staying busy is therapeutic, this is an understatement.
A couple of weeks ago, I told my family -- my wife, daughter, mother and siblings -- to make sure that they get up early on Sunday morning.
"I'll pick you up at 5:30", I told my mother and siblings, as my wife eyed me suspiciously, "We can't be late".
When they asked what for, I actually did not know what to say, so I blurted out the first thing to come to mind: "We'll all hear Mass in Tagaytay, then we'll have breakfast at 'Bag of Beans'" (a personal favorite).
On the way home that night, my wife asked me when I had planned this early morning trip.
"Just a few minutes ago" I replied. She just smiled, and we planned the trip.
Now I'm not really an impulsive person. I think things through as much as possible. I do like taking risks - but calculated risks, that is.
But every now and then, we just have to take the plunge, don't you agree?
Life was meant to be lived! God meant it to be that way.
When he created Adam and Eve, God told them: "Now listen here: you've got this entire place to yourselves, so you go around and enjoy what you can because this is for you!"
But in His wisdom, God added a few rules. In fact, there was just one rule. "Obey me. Everything in this place is for you - everything, that is, except the fruit of that one tree over there. That is off limits".
Other than that, it was all good.
What else would you do in a paradise where you were allowed dominion over all things? I can imagine Adam and Eve in their early days: "Hey Honey! Come and look at this! This is one creature you've got to see!" "One moment Dear, I'm just finishing up with my exotic, all-natural, geothermically induced mud bath..." "That's okay, it swam away already. When you're done, want to take a dive into the Atlantic? We can swim with the whales..." "That would be great, just as soon as we bungee off that beautiful cliff the Lord made for us over there..."
Now THAT would've been living life. Enjoying all that God has given us - simply because it was there.
Hence the impulsive decision to just get up very early one Sunday morning, travel all the way to Tagaytay to hear Mass and then spend the rest of the morning enjoying a lazy breakfast and wonderful company -- all on a whim.
All simply because it was there to be enjoyed.
In this fast world, the Lord allows time outs.
He wants us to stop long enough to see that, amidst all the clutter that our own faulty human nature has brought in around us, there is still the beauty of that thing called "life".
Learn to enjoy your journey through life. Choose to enjoy your journey, and all those around you will smile with you. And before you know it, they will be planning and enjoying their lives just as you do.
