I have been thinking about something for several months now. It is a difficult truth, and one we tend to avoid. We move through our days assuming that what is here now will still be here tomorrow. We make plans as though they are promises. We postpone conversations. We hold back affection. We tell ourselves there will be a better time to make the change, wear the pearls, take the trip, repair the relationship, or say what we really mean.
So, I guess I wanted to write a reminder that any of us could be one incident, one diagnosis, or one phone call away from a life that looks nothing like the one we are living today .Even if the one we are living today has challenges. Those can be overshadowed by new developments in a minute.
Most of the time, life allows us to keep believing that tomorrow will come and that we will have enough time. The morning comes. People we love are still around. Routines continue. And because nothing dramatic has happened, we begin to mistake repetition for permanence.
But familiarity is not a guarantee, and it never has been.
Lives change so quickly. I’ve seen this personally and professionally. A test result can divide time into before and after. A phone call can rearrange an entire family. An ordinary day can become the day we remember forever. None of this means we should live in fear. It means we should live with a clearer sense of what is precious. It invites us, I hope, to more carefully curate our days.
And above all, love should not be continually postponed. Say the words you have been holding back. Apologize while there is still time to repair what was damaged. Make the call. Take the picture. Sit a little longer at the table. Pay attention when someone you love is telling you something that matters to them. Be present.
Take the chance that really scares you. Stop waiting for perfect conditions (weather or otherwise). Begin the thing you keep saying you will begin someday. Today is someday. There may never be a moment when you feel completely ready.
Hold close the people who make your life brighter. Do not assume they know what they mean to you. Tell them. Show them. Let your care become something they can feel.
The clock does not warn us when time is running short. There is no announcement that this is the last ordinary afternoon, the last holiday, the last conversation, or the last chance to get something right.
Do not wait for loss to teach you what matters. Notice it now. Do the thing, take the risk, accept the offer. Say it now. Live it now. Love them now. Because tomorrow? Nobody knows.