I could be writing about our just-completed vacation on a 4-masted clipper ship. That will come another time. With the exception of parents eager to send their rowdy kids back to school, we all know how fast vacations fly.
Right now, however, I want to focus on this precious thing called life. Resiliency is all about growing through each moment of life… life which is too short.
Within two days after being home from vacation, a friend was killed in a car accident on Interstate 5 and a dear author and colleague, Jaime Showkeir, died on his birthday just 13 months after his diagnosis with ALS. Yesterday, my neighbor told me that her diagnosis after steady chemo for rare thymic cancer is not good. She’ll take a break with her husband and her two children, ages 5 and 9, in Maui, before going for her last hope: The City of Hope.
Life. Precious. Singular. And over too soon.
Whose hand will you hold today? Who needs have a hug and/or to hear the words, “I love you?” Does your face radiate joy in the moment? Or is your face a mirror of discontent, complaint, or disgust?
There were two such unhappy folks on the Star Flyer ship. One man never smiled, his face well worn into a deeply creased frown. He’d cut short any greeting. If someone said, “Amazing - the work of Valencia architect Santiago Calatrava”, he immediately responded, “I hate Calatrava.” Sigh.
The other woman was his mirror image. She cornered any ship attendant and would proceed to yell and raise her arms, gesturing wildly. Clearly, there was nothing about this trip that made her happy.
Sadly, their partners seemed to follow suit. Passengers gave them a wide berth.
Are you one of those people who bring joy when you enter a room? Or when you leave it? Find out now. Enjoy the moment. It is over too soon.