Whenever I heard or read that statement, I said to myself well sure, roses, I do take the time, I know what they smell like don't I?
The recent tragic loss of a friend however put things into perspective. Amol Chauhan, a friend from high-school, died tragically in a plane crash..he was 28! Given, we were never close friends and had lost touch over time, but the bonds you create in school cannot easily be washed away with time, all 300 of us (yes 300 students in our graduating class of '95) shared 10-13 years of our lives together, we learnt the same things, dreamt the same dreams, shared the same aspirations.
At 28, I figure, Amol, like each of us had plans for his future and was busy working on realizing them, he like each of us, had unfulfilled dreams and unspoken ideas designed to take him and his career places. I can only hope, that unlike me at least, he never got so busy in working towards his goals that he forgot why he set those goals in the first place.
In retrospect, I find that my approach towards life needs tweaking. Here I was so engrossed in the rat-race , in the game of survival of the fittest I was so busy striving to be the fittest of them all, that I never really did take the time to smell the proverbial roses.
I'm not promoting any life-altering changes here, I believe at this point in time and at this age, it is important for us to concentrate on our careers, to achieve all that we set out to achieve and to set ourselves high goals. However, I'm suggesting that one of those goals should now also be to live life to its fullest every single day, and that includes letting our loved ones know we love them and to do the things that we've been putting off to tomorrow today!
For my part, I hugged my surprised husband a little tighter today, I called home and spoke to my parents for hours and hours and finally..on my way home, I stopped by the local flower shop and walked in, taking in the enchanting fragrances that overwhelmed me, I stopped at a bouquet of Roses and took a deep breath..and oh my god! they smelled lovely.
In Memory of Amol - Son, Husband and Friend. May his Soul Rest in Peace
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