This week, I sadly, and all too prematurely, lost a friend.
She was vibrant, active, fit and, by all appearances, healthy.
Out of the blue, she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. She had just enough time from being diagnosed until she passed away to get her papers in order.
She also had enough time to reflect on her life and the things she had done and what would be forever left undone.
When I visited her in hospital, she shared with me how she had kept putting things off. To finally give up work. To start playing golf. To finally relax and spend her savings on doing things for herself.
There were so many plans but she had decided not to action them, to put them off until a better time, a better financial situation, or until she thought she deserved it.
One reflective story really struck me.
She had wanted a new bedroom suite for many years. She kept putting it off; waiting “until…”.
She had had a successful career and she could definitely afford a new bedroom suite, but in her own words she said “I was too mean to buy it for myself.”
She told me that she had, in fact, finally got around to buying it. It was delivered just before her diagnosis and being admitted into hospital.
She shook her head in disbelief when she said: “I didn’t even get to sleep in it!”
My friend wasn’t very different to anyone else I know, including myself.
There are the good crystal glasses sitting in a cabinet, waiting for a special occasion. There’s the really expensive bottle of wine waiting for the same occasion. The nice jewellery and the nice outfit that only sees the light of day when we think an event warrants “something nice.”
Isn’t just being here, being alive, a special occasion?
What about that bucket list of things we want to do or try in our lives? The things that are planned for “one day”?
What this week really brought home to me was that, for some, that “one day” never comes.
One thing I know for sure. If you are reading this, right now you have one – very special- day.
Today.
Today is a precious gift.
Live it, love it and don’t waste a moment of it.
That blog was breathtaking Vera. Thank you so much. I especially love also the quote at the bottom. ‘Snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of time. No idleness no laziness no procrastination. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.’
Thanks Kerry. Time is precious and it is such a tragedy to waste it. We need to make the most of every moment that we have.
Thank you for writing such an inspirational piece.
Waiting for the right time appears to be on most people’s life agenda card.
This piece of news has certainly brought home the cliche saying “life is short”.
I for one will be certainly be trying to ensure I do everything I have on my bucket list, in fact I did this year.
Yes Candace. It’s often an unexpected and tragic event that makes us reflect on our own lives and what we are letting pass us by. The key is in making sure we don’t just fall back into our old thinking and lack of action. Seize and enjoy every moment.