As I was walking to school two days ago, balancing a heavy math book, notebook, and umbrella in my hands and feeling raindrops falling on me despite my precautions, I noticed something slowly crawling along the ground. It was a snail.

I remember when I was a little girl, I used to like going outside after it rained, because all the snails and worms would come out of their crawling places. I loved watching them as they explored our backyard, the snails waving their little antennae at me.

I can't recall seeing any snails the past couple of years though, which was why the sight of it this week so delighted me. Then again, perhaps I did see them in the past two years, but was in such a rush that I did not bother giving them much notice... kind of like this week.

When I saw that snail on Tuesday, I just thought to myself, "Hey look, a snail," and hurried right past it, not wanting to be late to school. And that was it. There was none of that childish bending down to take a closer look. I saw it for a brief moment, and the next minute I was on the next block.

The rainy weather continued on Wednesday, and once again I saw a snail on my way to school. And again, I rushed by it, not giving it any acknowledgement other than by thinking, "Awww look, a snail!"

Although it was not raining as I was walking to school today, the ground was still moist, and I once again saw the snail, still moving without making much progress. As it painstakingly glided along, I hastily walked past it, wishing I could stop, but not having enough time.

What's sad is that our lives are often like that -- it is such a rush that you don't have the time to stop and appreciate what life has to offer. You see something, but there is so much to do and so many places you have to be, that everything else becomes insignificant. You no longer stop to smell the roses, to look around you at the beautiful trees and flowers growing everywhere, to greet the snails.... You see it, but you just rush past it as if it does not exist. Surely there is still a small child in you that can be delighted by the butterfly flying above your head, by the flowers blooming outside, by the little creatures that populate the world. Why not stop to appreciate it all?

After walking past that snail three consecutive days on my way to school, I finally stopped today as I was walking back home. It was still there, having made little progress.

I smiled as I bent down to observe it more closely and greet it, and I continued smiling the rest of the way home.