Don’t waste a single moment

The mystery of life is something we will not solve as long as we are living it. We struggle to understand why we are here and where we are going. We want to control the future – and we try so hard to do that – but in the end only so much of it is in our hands.

We can make choices of right and wrong – often depending on our individual perspectives – but the impact and influence of other people and the world itself are beyond our power.

So we adjust and change and hope that we will reach our dreams – or at least a few of our goals.

Sometimes the choices we make and the impact and influence of what surrounds us bring disappointment. We want everything to be perfect according to our own plan. That simply isn’t realistic.

Day after day, life goes on, but not always in ways we want or expect. And then, instead of loving life as it exists, we allow regrets and sadness to overwhelm us.

Life is too precious to waste. Each moment should be free of what-ifs.

We grow old too soon. Or at least before we are ready. When we are young, the end of life seems so far away. We get glimpses whenever someone close to us dies, but because our life continues so does the future.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the world that we ignore the fact that all of what we have here is temporary. 

One of the saddest times of life is when we move from living independently to depending on others for most of our needs. We return to the way we lived as children, where others provide the care and make decisions for us. Although it’s sad, it’s also a part of life.

Last year I attended a family-day gathering at a nursing home. I saw residents in various stages of declining health. Some of them sleep most of their remaining hours. Most of their time is spent in isolation and loneliness in spite of the dedicated efforts of their care-givers and visits by family members.

I’ve thought about some of those people in my visits to that place. Some of them seem barely alive, some communicate even though they are limited physically, and others are somewhere in between, staring or smiling at those who walk by and hoping for a wave or a smile in return. A simple “hello” brings happiness to them because someone took a brief moment to connect and acknowledge that they still are part of this world.

I often wonder what these people were like when they were in control of their lives. When they had energy to work and cook and mow the lawn and hold children and drive. When they could be part of conversations, and when others actually were interested in what they had to say.

I wonder when they reached the point that they no longer could be on their own. When did they transition from communicating to sleeping during most of the day and night? When was their independence stripped away?

As I walk through the halls as a still healthy man with energy, I wonder if too soon I will be in the same state as some of these people. And if that happens, will I be a picture of emptiness, or will I be among those who still cherish every remaining breath. Will I know the peace that comes with enjoying and appreciating life until the very end?

What does all of this mean?

We need to love the life we have in the moment we are in it. We need to cherish those around us while we’re still together. We need to slow down and let the experience of each day wash over us and be thankful for every breath. We need to capture the memories of sunsets and mountains, of crying babies and laughing children, of the stories that the elderly share and then repeat over and over.

We need to cherish life while it’s here, because too soon it is over. And when a single life on earth ends, life for the rest of us will never be the same again.