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I Love This Man

My husband and I wasted away most of our Saturday afternoon rummaging through the tool stores. I know that most women would cringe at the thought of this kind of weekend, but I have a lot of fun watching his eyes light up at the sight of air compressors and quarter-inch sockets. These days are always good for interesting conversation and lots of joking around.

Lately, we've been discussing the idea of moving from the central Florida area. I brought this up a few months ago, and he's since seen why. The area has changed so much in the last 6 years. Traffic. Too much growth. Attitudes. When he mentioned the idea of moving, I knew this was significant. He is the kind of man who completely thinks through his actions before even talking about them. I know that he will already have a well-thought out plan of action for every objection I have.

It's funny how realizing that your wishes are on the brink of coming true puts them in a new perspective. As soon as moving was a possibility, my mind was flooded with questions. Should I go ahead and paint the living room? Do I need to worry about replacing the carpet? What about the moulding in the bathroom? In my mind, I don't want to invest in anything temporary.

This carries over into other aspects of my life. I still have a hard time grasping the fact that much of life is temporary. Even my own life is temporary. Hmm. Is this why I hesitate in making good changes? Am I too afraid of putting in all the effort that I think someone else will enjoy more than I will?

My husband is amazing. He is the complete opposite of me. He wants to enjoy what he has right now in the moment he has. I think he does a better job at being in the moment than I do. He bought one of his dream cars, invested money in improving it, loved driving it, etc. When money got tight, his immediate response was to sell the car. My objection was all the time and money he put into it. His reaction was simple. "It's a car. When things are better, we'll go get another one." And you know what? He'll put a lot of time and money into that one. And he'll enjoy every minute of it.

The same is true of our house. We'll still go ahead and replace the windows. And refinish the pool. And complete the bathroom renovations. And create our garden retreat. And it's highly likely that most of it will be for someone else to enjoy. But we'll enjoy the moments we have with them. And we'll do the same wherever we go. Life isn't about lots of planning and working on an ultimate goal to be enjoyed AFTER the work. It's about taking stock of what we have and creating moments to be relished WHILE we have them.

I think I could learn a lot from this man.

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