Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.

Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is. – Maxim Gorky

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone." And butterflies fly away so easily.

What does that mean?
If you’ve ever been to a wedding and seen the father of the bride cry, you know what this quote means means. For the rest of you, it may be a bit tougher to understand. Perhaps you had a pet you loved, which has died. Perhaps you have a favorite Aunt, Uncle, or Grandparent who has died.

You might not have really spent a lot of time with them or thinking about them while they were arround. But once they were gone, you realized what had slipped through your fingers, and how big and precious they were to you. Does that make a little more sense?

Another example might be the recent death and the surge in record and video sales for Whitney Houston. Her voice was magnificent. But we forgot about her, while she was here. She fell on hard times, and she seemed smaller. Then, when she was gone, we realized how big and precious she was. And the same goes for everyone else who died, every day, every month, of every year.

Why is being in the moment important?  
Many faiths and philosophies have the concept of living in the present. They recognize that the past is behind us and the future is not yet here, so all we have is the present. They emphasize that the present is where we should try to keep ourselves focused.

Yet so many of us live in the past, our ‘glory days’ or fretting about what we should have done. Others obsess with planning for the future. Yes, some planning needs to be done, but when you lose the present to prepare for the future, you are likely to lose both.

This doesn’t mean you should drift like a stick down a stream, as some planning for the future is needed. Similarly, we cannot ignore the past, as learning from it is also necessary. But we must focus our efforts on the here and now.

Enjoy your time with family and friends while you can. No one knows the exact time of their departure. Enjoy your favorite music, movies and other things while they are here. Do what you can with your friends now, not after it’s too late. I hope that makes sense.

Where can I apply this in my life?
Let’s start with a list. Grab some paper and write down about half a dozen people you don’t see very often, but with whom you enjoy spending time. It might be because they’re funny, tell stories about the ‘good old days,’ or have wisdom or skills you want to pick up. Try to get people from different parts of your life, not just family members.

After you have listed the people, list what about them you enjoy the most, or would miss the most in their absence. Also put down when you last saw them, and how often you typically see them. Now write down how often you would like to see them, if everything could be worked out.

You might have a cousin you see once a year at the holidays, that you’d like to see at Spring Break and then again in the late summer or early fall. Perhaps there is someone at work you would like to learn a skill from, but you only see them every few weeks. You might want to meet with them two or three times a week, to have them teach you.

Now that you have a list and some ideas, it’s time to figure out which of them you will call first, and how you will work a “lets get together sometime soon” into the conversation. It probably won’t be that difficult, if you had a good time last time. If you didn’t have so good a time, and parted on less than pleasant terms, make sure you ask for forgiveness first, and patch things up, right?

Note that the desired schedule would have to appeal to the other person, as well as work into everyone’s schedule and not conflict with other interests. Also realize that someone who is funny for a few hours over dinner can get on your nerves if you’re stuck in a hotel room for a week with them, so be careful what you ask for. 8)

The point of the exercise is to think through your life and find the people you will miss the most when they are gone. Everyone will eventually go, so spend what time you have wisely. Don’t put it off, and put it off, and then finally visit them at the funeral home. Then it’s a little late, right?

From: Twitter, @Natural__Healer
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/maximgorky105587.html
Photo by Ethan Ableman

Happy Birthday to Maxim Gorky, born on 28 March, 1868.