Live life today as though you were dying
 

Wisdom of the Rooms 10/26/09

Quote of the Week

"Live life today as though you knew you were dying."


We've all heard sayings like this before, and for many years my reaction was, "Yeah but it's not my last day and the rent is due at the end of the month, and my relationship isn't getting better, and blah, blah, blah." As the many worries of the future consumed me, the precious days and years passed by without me, and now, at 13 years of sobriety, I wonder where the time went.

I remember when I got 30 days an old timer with 24 years shook my hand and congratulated me. I said, "Gee, I wish I had 24 years," and I'll never forget what he said. "I'll trade you my 24 years, right now, for your 30 days!" It took me many years to see the wisdom in this - it's about the journey, not the destination.

These days, I'm very aware of the gift of another day alive and sober. I've seen a lot of people go out or even die, and today I live from a place of supreme gratitude. Life is precious, beautiful and filled with opportunities to help people and make a real difference. I appreciate my life today, and I'm grateful that I'm present enough to enjoy it.

Today I live life as though I was dying, and I'm fully alive because of it.

My 16 year old daughter has her first boyfriend. He is a nice kid, very academically talented, plays several instruments, and speaks more than one language. As a dad, I can't complain. But this September my wife and and I both thought there was something strange going on between them, but hard to put a finger on. My daughter finally told us what was going on. Her boyfriend, Jeremy was spending the night in the hospital 2 - 3 nights per week to receive chemo for brain cancer, and then going to school the next day and pretending everything was normal. He did not want to tell any teachers or other kids, or have anybody know what he was going through. He would come over to our house and fall asleep, and never eat. To be 16, with that much potential, and dealing with that heavy burden, basically by himself (single parent) was an eye opener for me. Geez, I thought I had problems! (And it has since turned out that his tumor was not malignant, and he is recovering).

Basically, none of us know when our time is up. If you die when you are 16 it means you were "middle aged" when you where 8!

Thank you Zebra for sharing that. Prayers going out for your daughters bf.