Sometimes the greatest truths that we can ever learn end up becoming so cliche that we cease to pay any attention to them. They become clever little sayings on a bumper sticker or T-shirt. We put them aside in our search for greater truths. Or we just assume that we have learned that life lesson and we don’t need to worry about it anymore.
Take this simple truth: Stop and smell the roses.
It is just so ordinary. How could it possibly contain any meaning that will enhance our lives to any degree? We have heard it so many times. Yes, we all thought it clever when first we heard it. But a busy person can’t really be expected to walk around sticking their snouts into ever rose that they cross paths with, can they?
But the greatest truths, the most profound bits of wisdom, are often summed up in quaint little catch phrases.
Do unto others as you would they do unto you…
Smile and the world smiles with you…
All you need is love…
Lend a helping hand…
Give peace a chance…
Thou shalt not kill…
Live every day as if it is your last…
That last one ties in nicely with the smelling the roses idea. Sometimes, when you are viewing a great painting, you need to step back and look at it as a whole. Or maybe step closer and examine the individual brush strokes. Stopping to smell the roses is obviously not intended as advice to do just what it says… although there is nothing wrong with that… seriously, roses smell great, and just as every dew-covered petal in unique and one-of-a-kind, so too are the fragrances they emanate. And other flowers are also worth taking a brief sniff.
Maybe what I am saying… I don’t always know what I am saying, just so you know… is that the key word in that simple truth is not the smelling or the roses, but rather the stopping part. You need to find what your ‘roses’ are. I have a very short list of ‘roses’ that I always stop to enjoy.
Babies are the very first ‘rose’ on my ‘rose’ list. If I see a baby, I have to try to make it smile. I will make funny sounds and faces. I don’t mind looking like an idiot. But seeing a baby smile just makes my whole day.
I guess roses are actually on my ‘rose’ list. I do stop and smell them. And examine them. And admire them. I look from an artists eye. I see the colors, the interplay of light and texture and shape. I wonder if I could paint that rose and do it any justice. And I do the same with other flowers as well.
I will always pull over to the side of the road when I see a horse. I just love horses. I like to pet them.
Sea mammals. Any day that I see dolphins or whales playing is not a wasted day, that’s what I always say.
Sunsets and sunrises and clouds. We all glance at them and think to ourselves, wow, that’s pretty.
Dogs, you gotta stop and say hello to the doggies.
All I am suggesting is that you do just a little more than glance. No matter how busy you are, stop what you are doing for a few moments and just soak in a sunset, make funny sounds to a baby, look at a cloud, smell a flower, pet a puppy, watch dolphins dancing in the surf.
Whatever your ‘rose’ is, stop and smell it, for crying out loud.
Pouring My Art Out 
So essentially, the real message is stop. Just stop. No. Really. Stop.
And the dolphin thing reminds me of my recent blog entry called A Rare Gift from a Dolphin.
Great dolphins swim alike.
Indeed they do. 🙂
Just stay away from the tuna nets…
We don’t realize how lucky we are.
No we do not.
But for some reason we seem to be very good at seeing how lucky other people are.
You are BRILLIANT!
You make me feel like I just might be…
Really, take it from me, I’m an expert on this stuff.
Once again, to argue would be a waste of both our time…
This is my manifesto for life! Well written Arthur.
I always think this when people get caught up in debate about the serious issues in current events that the simplest truth is the answer, we waste so much time skirting around it and trying to pick everything apart, it’s always incredibly obvious and simple where the answer lies – to me at least.
When people search for the meaning of life they need look no further.
There are very few deep truths that require a whole page of explanation.
Ain’t that the truth
Ha!!!!!
Good insight. I’ll print this for mom to read. She’s at the worky place too much and needs to stop and smell the roses. Thanks my friend. XOXO – Bacon
Thank you, my porky little friend.
snort – you are most welcome my friend. Check out my blog tomorrow – I’m passing on the Liebster Award to you 🙂
I am honored, but I have that one already. I have no place to display my awards, so I just stopped worrying about them.
It’s still the thought that counts. 🐷
I am, as I said, honored. I am also not at home this week… and I am using a computer that I don’t know how to use, so I couldn’t do links or anything. But I appreciate you thinking well of me.
I always stop for bears. And deer. Love the deep thoughts, Art 🙂 Keep ’em coming.
Are there a lot of bears there?
YES! Some are so cute you think they would be friendly.
And that is why people get mauled in Yosemite every year…
Yep.
people… what are you gonna do?
Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure something out!!
People who get eaten by bears that they walked right up to are just plain good examples of natural selection. If a bear tracks you down and eats you, that is just bad luck. If you track down a bear and it eats you, it is just luck that your genes survived to be passed down for as long as they did.
LOL. So true…And if my dog bites my toes that means…
You aren’t feeding him enough. Or your toes smell like cheese…
Sounds like an experiment is in order. If my dog gets fat, I’m blaming it on you…
Or you could just wash your feet.
There must be another solution here.
The solution: One part soap/10 parts hot water…
no jello powder? That’s boring
You just need your feet not to smell like something dogs want to eat… we aren’t making soup… that would be counter-productive.
Well fine. Relate it to the topic at hand if you want to.
But I tend to value random ingredients. You should try my cookies.
Yes I should…
the stars, a thunderstorm, a sunset,a rainbow, those are my roses and i stop often 🙂
Just do not forget to start moving again when you are done… I really have a pretty long ‘rose’ list, but I didn’t want to stretch it out too far and lose the point I was trying to make. When we make simple truths complicated, we just confuse people.
true!
True is good.
yes
Indeed.
You’re my rose. Now put on some deodorant.
Ha!!!
So simple, and yes, so true. When we forget these simple truths of life, we are just existing, NOT living! It’s essential to really really live. I mean, what do you have to lose?
Ahhh… another fundamental truth indeed.
I get stopping to smell the roses (and I do stop) but I can’t agree with “live every day as if is your last”. I don’t want to spend every day of my life as if I’m preparing to die.
That one gets a bad rap… it just means that you should pay attention, look at a sunset as if it is the last one you will see. And in a way it is, because that sunset will never be repeated. And time is finite. It is more about focusing on life in the moment, not dwelling on the end of it.
Stop and smell the animals.
I really think that saying just means get out and enjoy things, rather than just watching them or looking at them. And everything you said is doing that.
Well I didn’t want to beat a dead horse… eeeerrrr….ummmm
If a dog looks at all friendly then I will stop & ask the owner if I can pet it – I really miss my Bandit. When I get near a large body of water, I just feel all the tension leaving my body & i can’t help but slow down. I can stare at waves for hours, same with sunsets & sunrises, watching whales or dolphins. I wink & click my tongue at every baby & get smiles 99% of the time & I am the best person to hand a crying baby to – they quiet right down in my arms. I think it’s my calm nature they can feel through my touch.
OMG… I think we were separated at birth…
My new truth…
If I don’t own the roads, what did they do with all my tax money?
ok, not as profound as any of yours, but it’s been stuck in my head for awhile now and I’ve been spreading it around. And I was happy to be in a position to actually click “like” on a post of yours I get to read so I figured I’d drop some random comment on you.
Random random party popcorn papaya pineapple porcupine monkey red truck apartment building bang clash boom new comment.