In the past month, three people I know have passed away. All were too young, all were people I wish I had known better and creepily ironic (or ironically creepy) all of them were forty-six years old. My husband, Wayne, will be forty-six in two weeks. While I know that it doesn't mean anything, it has certainly made me think.
Time is precious. We often put things off...or worse yet, put people off...because we don't have enough time. I think of the conversations I never had with these people who passed away...conversations that I will never have now...and wish that I had taken--had made--the time to do so. It's a common cliche' that we all use: "there aren't enough hours in a day," but the fact is that could never be enough hours in a day if we don't use the time wisely.
Do the dishes need to be done immediately after dinner...or is it more important to spend some extra time around the table with the family, playing games or just talking about everyone's day? Will the house fall down if I don't vacuum it and take a walk with my husband and dogs instead? How many times have we put off going to see an exhibit we wanted to see at a museum, only to realize that the exhibit has moved on? We have all been guilty of looking at the caller ID and deciding that we didn't have time to talk to somebody right then. And maybe there was something more pressing--but maybe, just maybe, it was something that could have been postponed and we could have been there for a friend.
If I were to list the activities that I have been putting off "until I have time," I would have a list as long as Santa's Naughty or Nice list. Do I really want to keep putting off my bucket list? Let's face it, at some point I will be too old to do some of the things on my list. Not to say that someone in their twilight years can't go bungee jumping, but I don't think I'm that person! Even when it comes to my health I've been very lax, having a "when I get around to it attitude" about losing weight and exercising. Admittedly, that's dangerous, because if I don't take control of my health I might not be around to do the other things on my list!
The most important things that we can do are spend time with friends and family. Two of the people I spoke of earlier passed away suddenly. Telling our loved ones how much they mean to us doesn't take much time at all--and it is so important.
I think of the song Live Like You Were Dying, by Tim McGraw. We shouldn't wait until we think our time is running out before we take advantage of every moment. That isn't to say that we should obsessively think that we could die at any minute and live in fear. However, we should be open to opportunities to enjoy time with our loved ones, to indulge in new experiences and to simply take time for ourselves.
