The Roses

Don’t forget to stop and smell them

It’s so easy to forget to stop and smell them

If you don’t stop eventually they’ll wilt and you’ll miss your chance

You pass right by them in the mornings on your way to your important things

Most days you don’t even register they’re there  

Occasionally you do, and think how nice it might be to stop some time

The world keeps turning, the important things give way to new important things

You work hard to accomplish them, you take pride in them

You set big goals, think of the place you’d want to be some day

You move to a new neighborhood in a new city

A new opportunity, a new job with new friends

The things that once felt big and important now feel small in comparison

You think back for a second and realize you didn’t stop

It’s okay though, there will be more, you can smell them later

Maybe later they’ll smell even sweeter

So you keep going, checking your big milestones off your list

Each time you do, another bigger milestone appears

With each bigger milestone you work harder, move faster

It feels good to move fast, you feel important

You cant believe you ever considered stopping in the first place

Why stop? You didn’t have the time

Now those big goals you once set are in view

If you can just keep going you can finally get there

You give them everything you’ve got, and they happily take it all

Eventually you do it, you achieve them

For a moment, you can feel it. You’re there, where you wanted to be

For the moment you enjoy it, you’ve earned it after all!

But soon enough the feeling dissipates

It’s weird how quickly it came and went, you think

You walk back home in your new neighborhood

You see the roses now, wilted

You begin to realize how many times you’ve passed them by

That you never did stop to smell them

That stopping to smell them was the whole point

It was so easy to forget