I was sorting through some boxes this weekend and found the following poem. As I reach retirement age, I look back on my life and realize how many times I took life too seriously. There were too many times when I thought I had to complete my to-do list when I really needed to do something silly with my children or grandchildren. I should have taken that trip, read that novel, or just basked in the sunshine. Nadine Stair, who wrote the poem I'm sharing, apparently learned the same thing.
"If I Had My Life to Live Over...
I'd like to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier.
than I have been this trip, I would take fewer
things seriously. I would take more chances.
I would take more trips. I would climb more
mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat
more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps
have more actual troubles. But I would have
fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live
sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day
after day. O, I've had my moments, and if
I had it to do over again; I'd have more of
them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else.
Just moments, one after another, instead of
living so many years ahead of each day.
I've been one of those persons who never
goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot
water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute.
If I had to do it again, I would travel
lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over,
I would start barefoot earlier
in the spring and stay that way
later in the fall. I would go
to more dances,
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies."
Nadine Stair, age 85
Louisville, Kentucky
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