There comes a point in every persons life when they realise how precious every single second is. That moment when you become aware that you need to soak in every minute of every day whether its doing something amazing or doing something mundane.  For many that point in life comes late in life, when old age or illness has set in and made you aware of how quickly time has passed and how much you have missed just through not living every moment to the full.  For me – I was lucky.  I reached that point in my life just a few years ago and it changed the way I view and experience everything.

Now every breath I take I appreciate, whether that be while I am hanging out the washing – a chore I abhor, or playing on the beach with my precious children, I love that moment. I find something good in it and I love the life right out of it.  The warm sun, the crisp wind, green grass, the bright contrasting colours of the graffiti, the decaying mortar on an old building. The wrinkles on that womans face, his shoes, the way my daughters hair curls up into ringlets, the way my son’s eyes shine when he talks endlessly about Yu-gi-ho or Pokemon, the way my husband smells when he leaves for work, the fresh smell of the washing I hate hanging out, the way the sunlight catches on that cobweb above the line.

Don’t get me wrong I have bad days too, when I loose my patience with my kids because they are driving me insane or when I forget something and have to go into the house 3 times or when I just need to lock myself in the bathroom to finish that Candy Crush level in peace, but even in these moments I remind myself to be present and appreciate it .

This Sunday we washed the car and I loved every minute of it.  As we finished off I ran to get the camera because it was just such a gorgeous carefree moment. My husband gave me a quizzical look – honestly you would think he would be used to this by now; “really he said – washing the car?” And I smiled at him because sometimes its hard to explain in words how beautiful these simple joyful moments are.