One of the most important things in life is taking time to show appreciation.
Celebrate Life.
It appears to me that this is something Germans are very good at. It is evident in the smallest details of daily life. Take for instance…mowing the lawn. When mowing the lawn one does not mow down everything in its path. One takes the time to mow around the wildflowers. This holds true to large patches of flowers and to the single dandelion. (which German’s call a Lion’s Tooth) Life is of the utmost importance; and if in your life you are blessed with flowers on your lawn you should cherish them.
I found this inspiring lawn on another of my recent walks. The old me found it more satisfying to jog or ride my bike. I enjoyed the ability to cover more ground, burn some extra calories, and push the boundaries of my youthful amounts of energy and fitness. The new me has grown to love and appreciate (even more than I did before) that old adage…slow and steady wins the race.
Now let’s not get carried away. I’m still the old me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love a good, holistic walk every now-and-again. This is especially true since I live in a land with more foot-paths than paved roads.
The blooming of Spring seems to happen overnight. Before we realize they are growing; the fields here sprout waist-high. And if you don’t take the time to stop and celebrate Spring; it’ll be Summer before you know it and you’ll be hitting-up Christmas shopping pre-sales. The Germans know this. That’s why they stop and throw a big party for Spring every year. Yes, they throw parties for Spring, and the church, and the “old city”, and Fall, and of course (most famously) Christmas.
And Spring deserves nothing more as a testament to its greatness than my husband and I, dressed in matching outfits, drinking fresh beer, and eating the most delicious pretzels in the world. (and I’m from the Philly area, the land where people buy soft pretzels in brown bags from vendors selling them out of shopping carts on the shoulder of I-95… so I can say that)
Oh wait…also a testament to Spring’s greatness; parents letting their children run around in large blow-up plastic bubbles on top of water. For the record, this is the sketchiest amusement I have ever seen. (and I’m from Jersey, the land of Six Flags Great Adventure, Firemans’ Fairs and The Shore with roller coasters rusty from salt air, go-karts that race under the boardwalk, and giant bungees that’ll fling anyone to-and-fro between high-rise hotels and out into the ocean…so I can say that)
Life is funny like that. It was obviously meant to be lived.
Life was meant to be lived…I wish that statement was as easy to live every second of the day as it was to type.
