William and Susan were both 22 years old when they married in 1995. William worked for a national telecommunications company and Susan was a teacher at a local school. Soon after their honeymoon William got a pleasant surprise from his employer. He was promoted to a regional director, a position of his dreams.

“Honey I have some very good news to share with you. Our lives will never be the same again.” William announced as he opened the kitchen door.

“Please stop cooking, go and take a quick shower and dress up. We have to go out and celebrate.” William continued.

“What is it? Please tell me.” Susan inquired with great excitement.

There was joy in the house when William shared the good news with his wife. But little did they know that their celebration marked the beginning of the end of happy days in their marriage.

The demands of the new job took a toll on William and Susan’s marriage. William traveled for meetings intensively and spent more time at the office. Week after week Susan stayed home alone bored and deeply frustrated. It seemed William was now married to his job. On several occasions Susan communicated her concerns to William but William would always dismiss her concerns by saying, “honey soon I will be at the top of the ladder and we will have all the time in the world to do all the things you desire and visit all the beautiful places in the world. With this kind of money I will retire early. Please I need your support not your constant complaining. Remember I am doing this for us. I am doing what any loving husband would do.”

With each passing day William and Susan grew further apart. The higher William climbed the corporate ladder, they more time he spent away from home and the worse their marriage became. Ten years later William had a very good paying job, a very frustrated and unsatisfied wife and a marriage at the verge of collapse.

Stop and smell the roses, is a reminder that each of us need to occasionally stop the mad rush to enjoy life with the people we love.

The greatest gift you can give your spouse is you. You can give your spouse your entire pay check. You can buy your spouse the house or car of their dreams. You can send your spouse on a world tour of their favourite places. You can buy your spouse everything they have ever dreamed of. Yes, you can give your spouse all that if you have the means, but the greatest gift you can give your spouse is you. Your presence is your wife’s greatest present. Yes, it is good and commendable to work hard to provide for your family. But, regardless of how busy you are; stop and smell the roses. Make time to shut out the world, switch off the phone, turn off the TV, find a baby sitter and spend quality uninterrupted time with your spouse. Your spouse left everything to be with you. Everything you give your spouse means nothing if your spouse cannot enjoy them together with you. Regardless of how hard you work; give your spouse your time, your affection and your attention.

“Enjoy life with the woman/man whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:9

One Tuesday afternoon, while William was out of town, he received a call that Susan had been involved in a fatal accident on the way home from work. William’s world collapsed in a moment. William’s plan for a dream retirement with his wife came to nothing. William’s plans to take Susan on a world tour of her dream places crumbled. William was filled with indescribable regret.

Out of guilt William quit his job but it was too late. He blamed himself for not listening to Susan. At Susan’s funeral, choked with emotion, William gave a one-sentence speech. He stood up, wiped his tears, cleared his voice and remarked; “My friends, life is short, regardless of how busy you are, stop and smell the roses with the ones you love.” He staggered backward, threw himself onto the seat and cried uncontrollably.

Stop and Smell the Roses.

¬Anonymous¬