Life is like a bag of doughnuts
I am fortunate in that my lifestyle allows me the opportunity to travel full time. As a trucker, I spend the bulk of my days cruising down the highways, streets, and country roads of the U.S. looking at the scenery as it drifts by. Occasionally I will stop to look at some particularly beautiful scenery or check out some interesting looking tourist trap. One of my favorite pastimes is wandering the streets in some some burg that I haven't visited before, checking out the little shops, diners, and of course the local pubs and taverns.
While I always have a schedule to keep, traffic and construction to contend with, and the ever-present bad drivers to prevent using my truck as their suicide method of choice, I always make a point of seeing whatever there is to be seen out there. I have found that this is a pretty darned good way to live, as opposed to some of my fellow drivers out here who's only focus in life is keeping to their schedule and getting to their destination as quickly as possible.
They always seem quite tense.
I find that a lot of people live their lives like those drivers. They spend a vast amount of time, energy, and focus on the daily business of paying the bills, dealing with the every day problems, and earning a living, that they seem to forget to actually live. People go through their daily routines so absorbed in the day to day problems of life that they miss out on a lot of the great stuff that is around them.
When was the last time that you really paid attention to the scenery around you as you drove to or from work? Or impulsively turned down a road that you hadn't been on before just to see where it goes? How long has it been since you just took a walk around and looked at what the world around you is all about?
There are some great things and people out there to be explored and discovered. Have you ever taken the time out of your busy day to have a casual conversation with a total stranger? This can be quite interesting as some people are stranger than others, and is one of my greatest pleasures in life. It's amazing how differently other people view the world even though we all live here.
Think about some of the "major problems" you have worried about in the past. How many of those problems you worried about never even came to pass? Or weren't nearly as bad as you had imagined they would be? How many of them just "worked themselves out"? How many were resolved because you worried about them?
What about the problems you are expending energy upon worrying about now? How many of them will actually never amount to anything close to what your imagination has conjured up? How many will be resolved whether you worry or don't worry?
Take some time out of all this frantic activity of daily life to actually do some living. Look around at the world as you pass through it. You may be surprised at some of the things that have been there all along that you just never took the time to notice. And by all means, ALWAYS stop and smell the flowers.
That's what they're there for.