Recent Musings:
Life IS short.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Lately I've come in contact with many people whose lives have changed drastically almost instantly.
A man goes from being a strapping young father to being paralyzed neck down; a woman works years in a factory then falls at work and breaks a leg, unable to walk or work again. I met and conversed with a man for the first time two months ago who just died this past weekend. An infant I held, cuddled and fed a bottle to once at an orphanage has been adopted to a family, never to be held by me again.
Do we realize how quickly things can change?
I guess for me the realization is that the lives we plan on living or expect to live, which are usually calm and normal and ordinary with children and houses and a pet dog, usually are not the lives we actually live. Life can change as you know it with one missed stoplight, one wrong step, one angry phonecall, one too many cheeseburgers. The moments that we do actually share, experience and enjoy in life are truly fleeting moments and will most likely never be repeated again, not by me or by you.
When I learn of events like the above mentioned, I honestly have no response. What does one say to a person whose life has instantly changed beyond their control? How do I soothe myself, knowing I wasn't the one whose life changed but could have been?
Moments seem sweeter to me now - more "once in a lifetime" than weekend routines. People seem more worth stopping to talk to, as that situation with that person may never arise again. Snowflakes linger in the air more magically, their individuality being definitely valid of a justifiable pause.
I say, then, that the way to never regret the life you missed is to never miss it.