Never take the day for granted...

Every once in a while we get a reality check from god: a health scare, a close call in a vehicle, a near miss accident, the breakup of a long term relationship. When those things happen you get to see the true colors of those you surround yourself with. Strange how these things happen in threes in your life. I have recently had a few of these in my life. You know your true friends by those who stick with you through the bad times as well as the good.

Watching a good friend of mine end a three year relationship provided me with the opportunity to watch as an observer. Her true friends held her as she cried, offered support and help. Acquaintances patted her on the back and said, “It’ll get better. I gotta go shoe shopping.” And took off.

In another instance someone very close to me had a health scare. You start thinking “What would I do without him. How would I survive?” Then you ask yourself if you have told them that you love them enough? Happily I could say yes to that. We kept a positive attitude and continued to make jokes through the stress of the situation. Everything turned out OK, but he knew how much I love him and supported him through the entire ordeal. Another friend of mine is having a similar health scare with her husband. When she told me about it she commented something to the effect of ‘how dare he get sick’. Her take on the situation was starkly different than mine. I approached it with love and support. She approached it as a chore and inconvenience. I don’t hold much hope for them being together long term.

Finally, someone ran a red light and nearly side swiped me on the way to work this week. After my heart quit pounding in my ears I couldn’t help but think what would have happened if they hadn’t hit me. Had I told the people around me that I love them? Had I spent enough time with my kids? Had I done the things in life that I wanted to? Had I made a difference in someone’s life? I am happy to say that I could answer yes to these things. You can achieve a great sense of peace by always being able to answer yes to these questions. Don’t take the day for granted. You never know when you will get another one.