I'm no stranger to loss. A staggering statistic about my life is the number of people I've lost over the years. A huge number of the people I grew up with have passed on. Every loss of life is tragic, young or old, sick or accident. More than a few of my friends have taken their own lives over the years. When I say a lot of loss, I mean a lot.
The one thing they all have in common is that they all had different plans for their lives, but for whatever reason they never got there. When I look back, I can still remember what some of their big plans were. Some were going to travel and see the world. Others were going to meet the guy or girl of their dream. They wanted to go to college. They wanted to have families and live a quiet life. One of them just wanted to live a life free of depression.
They all wanted to do amazing things and live beautiful lives, but in the end, that never happened for any of them. Thinking about their dreams breaks my heart to pieces. Moreover, the world will never see any of the life-altering, world-changing ideas that never came to be. They were all struck down to soon. No matter how old they were, it was still too soon.
The only thing more heartbreaking is that many of them had the chance to achieve their dreams, plans, and goals at some point in their lives, but they always found a reason to put things off until tomorrow. They were going to make that big change in their life tomorrow. They were going to travel some time in the future. They were going to switch jobs, talk to that important person, or chase that dream some time later. Except, tomorrow never came, and they never got a chance to do any of it.
I know we've all heard the saying, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today." There's a lot of truth in this old adage. Take the time to tell the people in your life you love them. Plan to take that trip you always wanted a little sooner rather than later. Above all else, make every moment count. I don't think enough of us live in the moment because we are too caught up worrying about the future or feeling trapped in the past. Enjoy this moment; you don't get a do over. Once this moment has passed, it's gone.
Live the best life you can now. Make sure the moments that count are more than those you regret. Regret will destroy, but I'll leave that subject for another post. Don't live recklessly, but also don't let fear run your life. Live life for today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.
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