Life Lessons From Swayze

My dog Swayze loves walks. Let me rephrase that, lives for walks. The only thing she loves more is my husband. I come in a distant third. I try to take her on long walks around the neighborhood at least a few times a week. Swayze likes to play dumb but she is actually pretty perceptive. Case in point...No matter how long we walk, whether 5 minutes or 50, she slows down considerably on the way home. It's embarrassing really. She'll lag so far behind me that I'm practically dragging her down the street towards home. I'm sure people drive by and think "Look at that poor exhausted dog being dragged down the street by that awful woman." At first I was concerned that she was out of shape and was truly exhausted. Then I took her to the dog park and proceeded to spend a good 20 minutes laughing at her greyhound-chasing-a-rabbit impression. No, the dog does not get tired. Ever. So why does she do this?

Swayze understands what so many of us choose not to remember. Time is fleeting. Especially when that time is spent doing something you truly love. When was the last time you stopped and looked around you? Looked at things the way they were at that very moment and saw them? I recently spent an awesome weekend in Chicago with my husband, just because. I lived there for 4 years before moving to Madison and I thought I had my fill of the big city life. I spent a good portion of my time there waiting to be able to leave. I wanted so badly to get on with the next phase of my life, to find a job I loved. I am so lucky to have that now.

Over the weekend, I went for a run around downtown Chicago. Everywhere I looked, I was inundated with memories. The restaurant I went to by myself and was asked out by a waiter, the first time I ran from my apartment all the way to the Hancock building, my all time favorite cupcake place, the building where I met my husband, the boutique where I bought my wedding dress, the hotel where we had our wedding reception. As much as I love my life now, I yearned to go back in time if only to stop and look and smell and taste and be in those moments again. Because unlike Swayze, I didn't slow down to enjoy where I was. Instead, I focused on where I was going and tried to get there as fast as I could. I wish I knew then what Swayze has always known: Take time to enjoy the journey because home will wait for your return, but time will not.