Stop and smell, well, the roses

I was walking along the Venice canals with my family recently. At one point, I leaned down to smell some flowers, and I thought, “Now this is what life is all about. Really stopping to smell the roses.” And that’s when it hit me that I was actually smelling…roses! A whole hedge full of them!

I got such a burst of happy in that moment that I wanted to recommend it to you.

Stop. Smell. Resume walking. (Image: Venice canal roses by Amy Spencer)

Of course, it doesn’t need to be roses. But stopping to sniff, study or touch a flower, a plant or a tree on a walk reminds us of what a vibrant, bursting, interesting planet we live on. Yes, we’ve got problems—on the personal, national and universal levels. But in any given minute on any afternoon, there’s a world full of alive out there that goes beyond us. Give that world a second of your time. Those boring old bushes at your company’s front door? Look at them. Those flowers on your neighbors fence? Sniff ’em. That thick old tree that you can’t image not being on your block? Study it.

Stop for a few seconds to smell the roses and it will feel like you’re adding ten times that to your day. And if you can find a rose, for goodness’ sake, friend, stop and smell it!

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