I watched a man die at one of the stores where I work doing merchandising. He just fell over and died right there about 15 feet away from me. I didn’t go over, there were already several people gathered around, 2 people were performing CPR on him, the store had already called 911. I stood back and prayed silently as I continued to work.
I watched the paramedics work on him and take him away. I saw one of the paramedics in another store later in the day and asked about the man, she told me what I already suspected, he didn’t make it.
As you can imagine, that weighed heavily on my mind the rest of the day. I have now witnessed 4 people leave this earth, each had a somewhat different affect on me, this one made me think about just how fleeting and temporary life truly is. This helped put life into perspective, what is really important, what is really insignificant, what do I need to go ahead and do instead of putting it off for later. I wonder what that man might have done differently that day had he known it would be his last day to spend here on earth…
These words are not meant to bum you out, but rather are meant to get you to look at your life, let go of the insignificant things, realize what is important, live your life to the fullest each and every day… Hug someone you love.
All too often, we put off what we really want to do, we get caught up in the minutia of life and focus on the insignificant parts. We all have things we want to do, at least I can say that I do. But going to work, doing a job we hate just to make ends meet, taking a vacation once or twice a year and believing that will recharge us for the rest of the year. I’m not saying quit your job and become a bum, you should be reasonable, but you could be using that time while living day to day to work toward living the kind of life that is more satisfying.
What are your goals? You DO have them, right? What would you do differently today if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? Of course that is an extreme, but we ALL have an expiration date, we just don’t know when that is, it could be before you finish reading this sentence, it could be tonight, tomorrow, next week, next year, in 10 years… you get the idea, it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when, not if.
So what are you going to do with your life? Here is what I decided to change, I have been wanting a camera, a good one, I can make money with it, it will also be pleasurable for me to use. Nearly everyday, I see some scene that I could snap a great picture of, but I keep putting it off. I do it for various reasons, there are always more “important” things to buy, there is money coming but it isn’t here yet, the problem with that thinking is, yes, the money does come, but I don’t spend it on the camera and it gets nickle’d and dime’d away.
I have the money saved right now to more than buy the camera I want, there is nothing stopping me from buying this camera, right now, the only thing standing in the way is me, my pitiful excuses, well no more, I am buying that camera, I’ll have it in my hands by the middle of next week. I’ll test it out and write a review on it, I’ll write about it here.
What would you change right now if you could?