This picture came my way on Facebook this week. Collect Moments Not Things. It made me stop and think and take countenance of my life. Where do my priorities lie?
I don't have a hobby where I collect lots of things though I must admit that I do have a liking for zebras and giraffes and have a few posters, figurines, stuffed animals and pillow pets of these around the house. As a teenager I had a liking for Garfield. When I was in my 20s I spent my spare money on Franklin Mint plates.
The amount of money spent on hobbies usually depends on the spare money left over at the end of a pay or how much limit is left on a credit card. It tends to be difficult to spend a lot of money on collecting things if you don't have the money to spare. Collecting antiques, sports cars, or works of art are out of the reach of most people. But there could be little things in your life, and mine, that are stealing us away from collecting precious moments in time.
Employment with long hours, Facebook, video games, sports, excessive exercise, tv, running after children who are pursuing their own interests - dance, piano, soccer, karate, tennis....all take time out of our day. I am sure you can identify the things that take up your time.
The thing is, we need to find the balance between those things we like to do or have to do, and spending time with our loved ones where precious memories are made.
Sometimes it is good to ponder our moment of passing on, and to reflect on who we would want to be around us, and even what might be said about us in our obituary. Were we kind? Were we loving? Did we show an interest in our children and friends? Did we spend time with our children and partner? Or were we self-obsessed or career-driven?
It is essential that we put time into those relationships with the people who we want to be with us at the end of our life. Time builds relationships and the bonus of building relationships is collecting those memories of moments in time......the births, the first birthdays, the plays in the park, the camping trips, beach holidays, cooking together, sharing a book, singing....
In January each year I put together a photo book which shows the moments in time that the Woolsey Family collected the previous year. It is so good to look back through the books and see what we celebrated and what we did together. You don't see pictures of stuffed zebras or a new laptop...you see faces of my family at Bribie Island, birthday celebrations, riding bikes, at outings. These are the things we will remember as time goes on...these are the things we will reminisce about when our children have children and when we are old.
So my challenge, as well as to you reading this blog, is to put as much emphasis on my family as I can each day so I can collect those precious moments. And to put less emphasis on the materialistic things of this world, and the activities that take us away from our valued relationships.
© 2012 by Jenny Woolsey
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