Life is short. Every morning we wake up anticipating what the day ahead of us holds and then fall asleep planning, dreaming, and wishing for a better tomorrow. We wonder if we should let him know that we love him, if we should just book that trip to Italy and make it happen, or if we should spend Sunday afternoon with our Mom instead of sleeping in and wasting the weekend away. We are cosumed by so many "what ifs", so many negative thoughts, so much envy over others peoples lives, and we let regret repeatedly creep into our lifes. The problem is, we think we have time. We think that tomorrow we can start saving for that backpacking trip or one day we will have the courage to persue a career that we are inspired and fulfilled by. We think there is always a tomorrow to say thank you or to send that "thinking of you" note. But step back and gain some perspective. Close your eyes and think about how different today would be if you couldn't open your eyes tomorrow...
Two days ago, one of the oldest and closest friends of my best friend witnessed a tragic suicide in her family. Her brother could no longer life with the depression and the cards he was dealt in life and decided to take matters into his own hands. In less than a second, the pain ended for one soul but instead a lifetime of pain and confusion was distributed to family and friends...to friends of his friends and family, to strangers in the town, to people that had never even heard his name until the story broke. In one second lives were changed forever. Perspective changes everything...
It is so easy for us to get caught up in the day to day rituals of life...to passively accept that how things are is how they're meant to be until something else comes along and tells you it's okay to shake things up again. We so easily hide behinds screens that we send hurtful messages through or we display our best highlights of our life on. We take for granted the friends that are there for us, the ones that we wish were there for us more, and the family members that have been with us through everything. We never know how many tomorrow's were going to get and we can't allow ourselves to fall into the trap that pushes perspective out the window and gives us tunnel vision....dreaming our dreams but never living them out. Wanting more but never working for it or asking for it.
This is your life. This is the ONLY life you get. We always think that "someday" will eventually come and before we know it, you'll blink and all your dreams and hopes for yourself and your life will have passed you by. Before you know it, you'll have settled for that job you were "supposed" to take because it looked good on paper or marry the man that was good to you, even though you knew you were settling out of fear of being alone. Go after that dream job. Move to that city and make new friends. Decorate your room for what makes you happy and surround yourself with the friends that make you feel the best. If you don't want to go out to that bar Friday night because you would rather be in bed watching 10 episodes of Gilmore Girls...do it! If you want to sell your car and move to the Dominican Republic...do it! MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!
You have one life. You don't know how many tomorrows. Design the life YOU love because you may never have another chance.