by Deborah Nies

Created on: July 16, 2009

Living Life like there's No Tomorrow

"Brother. Cancer. Stage Four."

With one phone call, those four words changed my friend's life forever. Instantaneously, those tiny words, strung together with gigantic meaning and far-reaching implications, irrevocably and sadly, transformed many lives.

While I dilly-dally in the business of moving words around for my blog, I never believed that just a few words could contain so much power. It is rare to hear a pronouncement so staggering that it literally crumples a person to their knees in a fleeting second. Unfortunately, I am finding that as I grow older, these staggering health revelations are less rare. My family and friends (and oh yeah, me) are aging and it brings a myriad of new worries and sadness.

Admit it. We sound so wise when we admonish friends to "live for today." Nodding sagely, we council friends to say those three important words to their loved ones. Often times, not taking our own counsel, we advise, "Live life like there's no tomorrow." The words are easy to say. It's the actual doing part that is difficult. We are chained by the past and anxious about the future. But mostly, we are caught up in the daily minutiae of living a life. The time drain of paying bills, mowing the lawn, buying groceries, etc. We worry about work-place productivity and household cleaning accomplishments instead of following our bliss.

Be in the moment. Those things that you are fretting and worrying over, they are wasted time and energy. Past mistakes should not be rued and regretted incessantly. The past is done and can't be changed. Additionally, we waste precious moments worrying about things that may or may not transpire in the future to the detriment of the present. And although, we optimistically plan for it, tomorrow is not guaranteed. What we have is this moment, right here, right now, today.

To borrow some words from Barack Obama, "We are the ones that we've been waiting for. Our time is now." Yes, indeed. Our time IS now. NOW is what is promised to us...it is within our grasp...use it wisely.

We frequently put our fondest wishes and desires on hold, awaiting the perfect moment in time. We take the future for granted, as though it is our God-given right that we will all live to be 95 years old, and always be in perfect health. "I'll do it when..." fill in the blank..."the kids have left home," "when we retire," "when we have the money..." And, on and on, we make these plans...In the meantime, days turn into weeks,

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