Opinion Columnists
Email
Print
Why wait? Make every day a special occasion
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 25, 2009
"Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God."
--
Mary Morrissey
My wife quickly dismissed my suggestion. "I know where there are some forks we can use," I told her. For some reason, we are missing several forks, the everyday kind. They seemed to have just disappeared.
Sarah knew that I was referring to the "good" forks in the china closet, located in the dining room. We don't use the good flatware and china, and we don't eat in the dining room, either.
She rejected my suggestion and said she'd buy some more forks. "I knew you were going to write about this as soon as I read the Monday Morning Inspiration," she said. It was a timely message from the Web site, Daily OM: "Cause for Celebration ... Honoring Everyday Life."
I'm sure we are saving the good china for a really special occasion. I'm not sure exactly what occasion, and I can't remember the last one. Sarah doesn't either.
We have had this special set of china since we graduated from college, 35 years ago. We have used it once or twice. When it is passed down to someone else, I'm sure they will keep it in a special place, too, and never use it.
"We all know someone who keeps plastic covers on his or her couch in order to protect it. The irony is that many of these people may live their lives without ever having actually made contact with their own furniture!" the message on Daily OM stated. That point hit home for one person who has plastic still covering the dining room chairs in her home. "It is ridiculous," she told me after reading the note. "We have owned this dining room set for over five years," she said. "What are we saving the seat covers for?"
"This is a poignant and somewhat humorous example of the human tendency to try to save things for special occasions, as if everyday life weren't special enough to warrant the use of nice things," the message continued. It seemed like a direct response to my friend's situation.
You should "live each day as if it were your last. Buy things to enjoy them and not to put them away to be pulled out months later for use," my friend said. "I wish we all lived life like the message states. This is definitely something that I am working on."
"It's interesting to think of what it would mean to us if we let ourselves wear our nicest clothes and eat off the good china on a daily basis," the message said. "We might be sending ourselves the message that every day we are alive is a special day and a cause for celebration, and that we are worth it."
"This is very true," another friend remarked. "For some of the accumulations -- furniture, heirlooms, sentimental acquisitions or gifts -- I think they represent … dreaming about the future." Those dreams include "a living room filled with family and friends often, a dining room table groaning from the weight of food and shaking from the laughter around it."
"Using the good china, eating in the dining room, and taking the plastic off the sofa might be an invitation to be more conscious of the beauty and grace inherent in our everyday lives," the message suggests.
Consider this recommendation: "If there are things you've stashed away for a special occasion--a bottle of special wine, a gorgeous pair of shoes, an antique lace tablecloth -- consider taking them out of their hiding places and putting them to use tonight, just because you are alive now to enjoy them, and that's a great cause for a celebration."
I plan to eat in the dining room soon and use one of the "good" forks. Otherwise, they will be museum pieces for someone else to enjoy.
Nigel Alston lives in Winston-Salem. He can be reached at nalston1@triad.rr.com.
Email
Print
