we have today

Look well to this day, for it is life, the very life of life. In it lies all the realities and verities of existence: the bliss of growth, the glory of action, splendor of beauty. For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day, for it and it alone is life.

Ancient Sanskrit

The last couple of days there has been some bad news and close calls and it got me thinking that we naively take it for granted that when we get up tomorrow that the world will have continued on where it left off before we went to bed.

We don't think that anyone will be diagnosed with a terminal disease, we don't think that anyone will be in a tragic accident, we don't think anyone will be murdered, have a heart attack, an asteroid will hit the planet, one of those mega volcanoes will blow or some nutto will press the red button...not to forget that some terrible plague will storm across the world wreaking havoc and mayhem.

Who could live with worrying about all this stuff all the time? If we did we wouldn't be healthy and I sure don't think we would be very happy. But the thing is we live like we think we and everyone we know will always be there...and exactly the way we are... and because we do this we squander opportunities to be happy, we put off visits, we procrastinate about doing the things we always dream of doing, we make excuses for not doing the things we want to do, we waste energy being angry, we get comfortable with our rut, we fret over the small stuff and we lose touch with those who are dear to us.


The other night my son and his girlfriend were driving along the highway in his new to him little ford focus and collided with a moose. Now hitting a moose is like hitting a train or something for they are fricken huge and not only that they have long legs so what usually happens is that they go flying up over the hood and right into the car killing everybody...people get killed hitting a moose when they drive a big truck even...so how lucky is my son? How lucky is this mother? Not a scratch. The car kept on driving all the way home and the air bags didn't even come on...now the car could be totalled but oh well...and who knows what condition the moose is in but my boy and his girl and their dog are all Good!



In the blink of an eye life changes...or ends and for many we don't see it coming. We assume that when we get in the car we will get safely about our journey and back home. I assumed that when I was walking down the street on the sidewalk that I would just be getting some exercise, giving the dog a walk and picking up glasses...who knew that my head would even after four years be a mess?


I talked to my friend that I haven't heard from in ages...she told me she went in for surgery and had a reaction to the anaesthetic and basically died and had to be resuscitated...My Aunt just found out she has cancer. My neighbour's grandfather just had a heart attack...she says she is just on standby...she might have to rush to his bedside.

I wanted to tell her that we are all only on standby. We never know when or what or how our life will playout. Every minute is a gift...the only difference is sometimes we get a little warning that our time is drawing to an end.

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey.

It reminds us to cherish each moment,

because it will never come again.

What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"