Sometimes, we take life for granted. We just think we’ll wake up tomorrow and everything will be the same, but it isn’t. You and life around you, is constantly moving in some direction and is always transitioning, even when you don’t think so.
This year was a challenging for me. One of my closest childhood friends died and it turned me around. In a sense, it re-conditioned me. He was diagnosed with cancer in June and died in December. I miss him. Terribly. Another friend/acquaintance got a bad headache one afternoon. She went to the hospital and was taken off life support in less than 2 weeks. She died of a brain aneurysm, shortly after her 50th birthday.
Life can change in seconds. It made me take notice of my life. “Follow your bliss,” says a friend who is always happy. Is he really ? Well, he has a constant smile and is always upbeat. I thought of selling everything, traveling around the world, doing the documentaries I’ve fantasized about, finishing the 3 books I have in my head and/or have started. I thought of how much we all hold on to what we think is security, when in the end, security is only an illusion.
So what next ? What are you holding onto ? Clutching for tomorrow ? What is so hard to let go of that it is really holding you back ? I’ve thought a lot about that lately. What feeds me ? Emotionally ? In the end, it’s not the person with the most amount of toys that wins. That’s crap.
I used to co-facilitate support groups for the terminally and chronically ill. Most had cancer. I did emotional hospice then also, where I went to people’s homes and did meditations and vision work with people who were dying. Believe it or not it was rewarding. I always left knowing, in the whole scheme of things, my problems were nominal.
I’ve never yet met a person on their death bed, who wished they had more money or toys. It was always about relationships, what they didn’t do, what they never made time for, how they never followed their passion. Never once, did I see anyone upset over not having one more material possession.
So as I get older and hold tightly to my youth, energy, hopes, dreams and optimism for the future, am I looking at the end goal or living now ? Maybe a bit of both, but I’ve never yet met anyone who is really happy, content and satisfied, who wasn’t living in the moment. Right here, right now. It is about being present and showing up for yourself and life.
Below is one of my favorite quotes because it makes me think once again what my priorities are. Time is not on my side enough to keep pushing dreams and passion aside. I need to stop saying tomorrow. It’s now. The future is right now.
Dalai Lama When Asked What Surprised Him Most About Humanity
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man…. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
That quote so resonated with me. How so many of us, put off our dreams, what’s most important to us, always thinking we have a tomorrow.
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never heard of that quote from the Dalai Lama, how very true, I will write it down and make it my own. My sister died 2 years ago, like the second one of your friends. Headache. Aneurysm. Switch off life support machine. She was 45. We miss her immensely. Thank you for writing this post. It is very touching.
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Thanks for enjoying and following my blog. I couldn’t agree more with this post. It’s so wonderful to live each day. I have much less materially than most around me, but I feel rich and blessed with joy. All the best to you!
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I hadn’t ever read that quote from the Dalai Lama. It’s nice to read it on a Sunday morning and fully understand what he means. Thank you for connecting it with you story and what a beautiful story it is.
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