Would You Rather...? {be doing something else right now}

Road Trip: Burma, Saturday 25th September 2010

I bet many of you have played that game, “Would You Rather…?” where you give two scenarios, and the other person has to answer what they’d prefer.  Depending on whom you’re playing with, the questions can end up getting pretty unrealistic which makes it hard (yet amusing) to answer when you’d rather not choose either!  I remember sitting through long train rides in Japan, when I travelled with a group of teachers on a study tour, and to fill in the hours, we’d try to quiz each other with the most ridiculous questions.  It can actually be a good way to get to know people.

So, we started playing this game in our family a while ago and we got so into it that Dave and I brainstormed a whole bunch of questions and wrote them out on little cards and put them at each place setting for our Christmas dinner in 2008. It was a real hit and stimulated a lot of conversation as each person went in to detail as to why they chose that particular response etc. It was also a fantastic way to include the children in the table discussions because we had some questions suited to their age group too and they just loved giving their responses and having everyone listen.

Since that Christmas, we have continued to play the game from time to time.  Even a couple of weeks ago I was challenging my sister with a tricky ‘Would you rather?” scenario which brought forth a lot of laughter. 

And I was reminded of it yet again yesterday as we travelled in the car for 13 hours to Burma and back for a passport stamp (we have a multi-entry visa, which means we have to leave Thailand every 90 days).  

It got my mind pondering to a little while back when I was spending some lovely quality time chatting and cuddling Tobi.  We’d been playing the game earlier and he’d obviously been thinking more about the questions, which were along the lines of what they wanted to do when they grew up.  So he says to me, "You know Mum when I grow up I think I want to make coffees and I think I want to be a dad!"

My heart melted and I was able to share a special moment with him telling him how lucky his children would be to have a dad like him and what a wonderful husband he would make one day. I was then able to tell him how when I was little I wanted to be a teacher and a mum but now, being a mum, has become my most favorite job of all.

So then this quote in my diary stood right out to me today, which read 

“One day at a time- this is enough.  Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.”  Ida Scott Taylor

And so right there at dinner tonight I silently asked myself the question, 

"Would I rather be doing something else right now?" 

And then I looked...

I looked around at my precious family sitting cross-legged on cushions at our low table.  I saw their faces and heard their laughter as they practiced Thai words, I remembered that we are here for a specific purpose and that one day at a time is enough.  

I knew instantly that we were making beautiful memories that would be worth remembering and that ‘no’ there was nothing else I’d rather be doing right now!

Blessings,

Andie