A Matter of Importance

I've noticed over my lifetime that too many people make the mistake of dismissing another's pleasures or interests as of no importance. My husband was one of the worst. He couldn't understand why the whole world wasn't intensely interested in sailing and Formula 1 car racing. And he couldn't understand why anyone in the world was interested in something he wasn't.

I've mentioned my Monday morning coffee group as something we enjoy a lot here at the trailer park and I try hard not to schedule another activity during coffee time. It does happen occasionally as it did this month. We had to drop coffee morning two weeks in a row which I wasn't one bit happy with but it had become necessary.

One of my friends was intent on planning an outing for the third Monday but I told her I couldn't drop my coffee morning 3 weeks in a row. She looked rather disdainful and said, "It's only coffee".

Well, it isn't only coffee. There is a large group of ladies who come and drink coffee here on Monday mornings but the most important part of our meeting is the comraderie and laughter we enjoy. It's almost a ritual for starting out the week right.

Rituals like this fall easily to the wayside if taken too casually. Our outing for this morning fell through so I was able to have the coffee group over after all and we had such a terrific time. Why would I not make an effort to keep this going?

I guess what is important to some will never be important to all but it wouldn't hurt to practice tolerance and understanding of what is meaningful in another's life.