"Stop and smell the flowers," is apparently a misquote from a 1958 book by golf legend Walter Hagen. "You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way," he said. I didn’t read the book, but I’ve known the phrase my whole life it seems. I sort of prefer the misquote, “Stop and smell the flowers.” To me, it has always been a euphemism for slowing down and enjoying life. But I think I’ve come to realize this one is best taken quite literally.

It took me 46 years to actually stop and smell a flower and I would suggest that was way too long.

A few weeks ago I was on a walking back from lunch. This is important. Because it is much more difficult to stop and smell the flowers when you’re driving. So walking is key. Anyway, there was another man coming the other way across the street and he seemed very happy. Suddenly he noticed something on my side of the street and made a beeline toward me. As he passed he commented, “I wonder what these smell like.” And as I walked away I heard him say, “not much smell at all.” Well, I wanted to be this happy, but I didn’t want to bite on his style right away. So I made a mental note to try this flower smelling on my walk home. On the next walk home I remembered the man, but I was running late for something so I considered putting it off until another time - but then it hit me: the “stop” really means stop. I’ve smelled flowers before. Plenty of times. But not when I was supposed to be doing something “more important.”

So I stopped and I smelled them. At first, it felt a bit silly. Then I went to another bunch and smelled them. I wondered if I looked like a crazy person. But I pushed on and pretty soon I felt like I had stumbled on gold. The willingness to stop what I was doing because I found myself in front of some flowers was a test I had been failing for 46 years. The silent question to me all this time has been, “Are you really here, Alex? Are you truly paying attention?” “Well thank you for asking, oh, asker-of-silent-questions,” I say, “I’m doing better. And I’ve finally started smelling your flowers.”