Saving For A Rainy Day?

Anyone who has had the task of emptying the house of someone who has died knows what a heartbreaking and strangely revealing job it is to have to do.

When I was 21 my grandmother died.  I remember so clearly the day I helped my parents sort through a lifetime’s worth of memories.  As I wandered through each room her presence still almost tangible to me I discovered little hoards of birthday and Christmas presents going back years.  Everything had been carefully put to one side ready for just that special occasion.

We packed up all the boxes of cosmetics long past their use by date and the stale faded perfumes their scents nothing more than a ghost, the silk scarf still gift boxed in its frothy layers of tissue from her dressing table. It brought it home to me just how much we put by for a rainy day, how much we save for that special occasion.

How often have you saved an expensive bottle of perfume only for it to go off and have to be thrown away before you got to finish it? I know I was guilty of that particular crime up until then.

How often has that beautiful outfit sat in your wardrobe because it was too good for everyday, only for it to have gone out of fashion by the time you dig it out again? Yes that was me too; the charity shops must have made a fortune out of me over the years! How often does your special china have an outing?

No one knows how long we have left of this fragile thing called life, so surely we should make every day special, make every moment count.  After the events of that day I have tried my hardest to always live in the moment. I don’t guilty for spraying myself with expensive perfume every day, or submerging myself in a luxurious scented bath on a dreary Tuesday afternoon, or wearing the special necklace from my wedding day while I sit writing at my desk.

So don’t save it all for a rainy day, immerse yourself in those wonderful experiences, every day is a blessing, a gift to be opened right now.