2001 Soap Box Archives

Simple Things

I sometimes reflect on the fact that with all the hustle and bustle, job pressure, peer pressure and blood pressure, the traffic, the crime rate and all the bad news we see on television that we just get caught up in the daily grind that we simply forget to look around and enjoy the simple things. For instance, I was driving by Roger and Terry’s place today and Terry was out in the yard grooming one of the most beautiful Sorrel phillies I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Ordinarily I may have just driven on by and never stopped to admire this lovely and gentle creature, but I stopped and petted and admired her. Hazel is always wanting me to walk around the yard with her to look at her flowers. It’s easy to say, I just ain’t got time but I do it and a pleasant stroll it is among the roses and all the other flowers I can never remember the names of. How long has it been since you’ve been fishing or stopped to watch the sun dip below the horizon? How long since you’ve held a baby or walked in the the rain or played with a puppy? When’s the last time you did something silly or sat down to have a serious conversation with a senior citizen? When did you last admire the stars or sleep outside or been to a high school basketball game? Did you ever walk across the grass early in the morning when the dew was heavy and feel it’s natural coolness under your feet? Did you ever go down to a creek and just sit there and watch the water run? Have you ever seen a new born colt get on it’s feet for the first time, still damp from birth and all gangly and awkward? Have you ever seen a red tailed hawk wheeling lazy circles in a clear afternoon sky? Did you ever see a herd of white tail deep jump a fence or a wild turkey trot down a wooded path? Did you ever hear a lovesick whippoorwill pouring his heart out on a night when the moon is full and the breeze smells like honeysuckle?Did you ever feel a large mouth bass on the end of your line and watch him break the surface and make the water roll or did you ever hear a bunch of bullfrogs trying to outdo each other around a placid moonlit pond? How long has it been since you’ve pulled out your favorite old records and just sat there enjoying them? When’s the last time you had a fried apple pie or made homemade ice cream or been in a snowball fight or hugged a good friend and told them just how much they mean to you? Do you ever roast a hot dog over an open fire or play soft ball with a bunch of kids or spend your vacation at home? Life is so beautiful, it can’t be relived or rewound and one of these days when you spend more time in a rocking chair than you do behind a steering wheel and you start pulling out those old memories, I’ll just bet you a dollar to a doughnut that your favorite ones won’t be about the most money you ever made or the social status you achieved or accolades which have come your way. I’ll bet it will be the memory of simple things which will warm your heart through the golden years. We all tend to get too busy, too stressed out ,too focused to stop and smell the roses. What we need to do is slow life down, try to enjoy every minute of it no matter what we’re doing, and get rid of the things in our lives that cause us worry and anguish. Look around you at this beautiful world. “Be still and know that I am God”

What do you think?

God Bless America
Charlie Daniels