Would you be happy with how you have lived?
Or would you feel like you had let opportunities slip through your fingers?
Our time here is short. Stating the bleeding obvious but time, once lost, is gone forever. Why then do we sometimes treat it with such disrespect? Why do we put things off until we retire, or until next year, or trudge through the weekdays, yearning for the weekend?
Time keeps nudging its way into my mind recently. I sat listening to two friends talking, one clearly losing their sanity and the will to live in their current job, the other saying "Just stick it out for another year, that's not long is it?" A YEAR! A year is a very long time when you're not happy!
Time jumped out at me again when my hairdresser told me about her friend's partner who was sadly diagnosed with cancer and was dead within four months. How can that happen? How would you feel if from today, you only had four months with your partner, your best friend, your mother, father, sister, or brother? Or child? You could say with four months that they were luckier than some. Poor Terry Wogan, I believe, had no idea he had cancer until three weeks before. The pace at which three weeks zip by in our daily lives quite frankly frightens me.
I worry about my friend who effectively said a year isn't long to be unhappy. Does she appreciate quite how vulnerable and fragile we actually are? As someone who has had a cancer diagnosis four times, mortality has smacked me in the face far too often for my liking. Time has therefore always been important to me. But even I forget to pay it the respect that it deserves. When I find myself longing for the weekend, instead of grabbing every moment with both hands, perhaps I'm no better?
Time is perishable. Time is precious. We need to help each other remember just how precious time is.
Value Time. Do things now. Do them today. If it's not working, don't wait until later. Later doesn't always come to everyone.
Be Present. Skype your loved ones and sit and have a proper conversation face-to-face rather than unloading the dishwasher with the phone tucked under your chin. Those loved ones may not always be there.
Seize Opportunities, however large, however small. Take a break and walk in the sun (yes it's actually shining), play with your dog or child, meet your partner for lunch. That email will still be there waiting for you.
Take More Risks. Stop procrastinating. Are there really any bad decisions? Or just decisions that you can learn from?
Challenge Yourself. Set yourself a goal that you never thought you could achieve. You'll find a way to get there.
Participate. I mean, really participate. Don't just go through the motions. Don't just let life happen to you. Live life.
Be Happy. Help others be happy. Hold each other accountable for really LIVING.