Squeezing 101

During our breakfast run this past weekend, I chatted a bit with Frank.  Frank has a young daughter who is an absolute spit fire!  Every picture or video he posts shows a little one very enamored with life.  Frank said something along the lines of, “she sure squeezes every bit of life out of every day”.

Wow.

Not a new concept, but wow.  Live like you’re dying, dance like no one’s watching, and on and on…..  But how do we do that?  How do we channel that inner young child and squeeze every bit of life out of every day?  Most of us are pulled in a variety of directions, whether its work, parenting, school, community, or even play.  We’re all allotted the same 24 hours a day, within the same 7 day period, etc.   There are times when one area becomes busier than another, and sometimes work takes over and “work life balance” takes a back seat.

While this thought was swirling in my brain this morning, I headed out to work on a very foggy morning.  As I approached my favorite part of the drive, I was struck by the eerie, yet beautiful scene the fog laid out for me.  I thought about taking a picture, but a car came up quickly behind me, forcing me to continue on.  I almost shrugged the moment off, and realized I was disappointed at the prospect of missing a really cool photographic opportunity.  At the next available driveway, I turned around to head back and grab the moment. 

Can't decide which one I like better....this one?

......or this one?

As expected, arriving approximately three minutes later to work didn’t shut my company down.  But that three minutes gave me a satisfying feeling of taking time to do something that made me happy.  While Frank’s daughter performs flips and runs circles around him, my version of “squeezing every bit of life out of today” started with a u-turn and a couple of photographs.