It’s funny how sometimes (always?) something horrible needs to happen for you to stop, and realize what is really important in this world. When life is rushing you by, and you’re not even able to slow down in order to enjoy it properly. That’s when it happens. The unthinkable. So unfair, yet still so real.
Today I got bad news. Two people who are close to me are very ill.
And just as I realized what they were saying, everything else stopped. If only for a second. I could not even catch my breath. Like there was no air. It all just suddenly vanished and left was… nothing. The words were hanging above us. Out there. Not to be taken back. (You know how you just wait for the other person to say “Hey, I was just joking. I am perfectly fine! You should have seen your face when I told you… There, there, calm down. Let’s go grab a cup of coffee instead”) But there was no “I was just joking”… It was a fact. Not to be taken back as a bad joke. Truth does hurt sometimes.
Now, I know that in one way or another, we are all dying. All the time. No matter when we are going to leave this world, we are closer to death by a day compared to yesterday. But it’s somewhat different when you are told that you might die earlier than you thought you might. For (maybe) most of us, believe that we are going to die old, having lived long enough to meet our grandchildren and what not. But when you are young, you don’t want to be thinking about death. You are constantly being told that you have your whole life in front of you (which, by the way, makes me furious to hear, since no one is in the position to tell me, or you, that we are going to live a long life. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow?)
It’s not the first time it happens, really. Something or someone shocks you and you realize that whatever you were doing, what ever argument you are having with your friend, family member, colleague or neighbour, minor issues or dilemmas you believe are the worst thing that could ever happen to you… Newsflash! It’s not. It’s not all that important.
As much as I dislike the idea of not being grateful for all the wonderful people and things that I have in my life… I am just a simple human being, who does not appreciate what I have got. Until I lose it, that is.
You don’t know what you got until you’re missing it… a lot!
I guess most of us have felt that way once or twice before. That we don’t appreciate what we have got, until we lose it. It’s sad how we very rarely (never?) are satisfied with what we have got. Taking things for granted is very easy, especially when you have so much. Basics, the fundamentals in life, such as health are taken for granted, something that you are being given… just like that.
The healthy people have a hundred… no, make that a thousand wishes in life. The sick… only one. And we both know what that wish is.
I don’t really know what I want to tell you by this post.
Maybe, I hope that you will try to stop, and look around you. What is really important in your life? Who is really important in your life? Are you taking care of that person enough? Does that person know that (s)he is important to you? That you care? Is it really necessary for something bad to happen before you realize that you care?
I am being confused. Or, more like… I am frustrated that there is nothing that I can do about my friends being ill.
I am not a doctor, nor do I have magic powers to help them out. But what I can do, is to let them know, that no matter what happens, I am there for them. Every day of the week. And that we are going to do this together. Because I care. The people who are dear to me, these are the people who mean something in life. Family members, friends… That is what is important in my life.
What is most important to you in your life? Do you appreciate what you have got?
Citybreeze 