What did you miss today?  Were you too busy to notice something extraordinary? Did your child or a co-worker do something special?  Did you see something beautiful?  Slow down – there is beauty all around us, if we just take the time to notice!

“On a cold, gray Friday in Washington, DC at the Metro Station, a young musician played his violin for the morning rush hour crowd.  About 1,000 people passed him as he played; most hurried, a few stopped and every parent forced their child to move on.

Wearing a baseball cap and T-shirt, he played for 43 minutes and collected $32.17.  When he stopped playing each piece, there was no applause, no acknowledgment.  Nothing. This isn’t so ordinary, is it? Actually, it’s quite extraordinary because that violinist was child prodigy Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world! He played 6 Bach pieces continuously on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars and hardly anyone noticed! Two days before, he had performed to a sold out crowd at Boston’s Symphony Hall where $100.00 was the average ticket price for the good seats.

This social experiment  was organized by the Washington Post on perception and priorities. If you can’t stop to appreciate world class music from a talented musician playing a priceless instrument, what do you focus on? What else do you miss?  We have the greatest seats in the house every day of our lives.  Start noticing, show up for life, make every day count and create your own music.”