Sunday, October 27, 2013

You only live once...


YOLO...

You only live once...

Usually that phrase is synonymous with actions that those speaking it would like to have excused. After all, if you only live once, then what does it matter the kind of actions you take? Something along the lines of "eat, drink, and be merry..."

Lately, however, I've been thinking of those words in another context. Like the ebb and flow of a river our lives constantly change from one moment of time to the next and we never know what exactly may be coming around the next bend or where the current may take us.

I think of a friend who is struggling with cancer and who has stared mortality in the face more than once especially recently.

My thoughts turn to another friend who, by the grace of God and the wonder of modern medical technology has survived numerous surgeries to try to give her back the life she had before tragic mistakes were made that nearly cost her her life and her family their wife and mother.

I ponder the passing of another friend who lost a battle with a debilitating disease that caused him to leave this world far too soon without ever knowing how much he would be truly missed.

Others I know have lost spouses, children, siblings, parents, and friends or have faced trials both seen and unseen that we may never know the full extent of. We are all on this "mortal coil" for a limited amount of time. What will we do with the time we have been given?

Will we spend our time chasing things of little value or will we take the time to treasure what we have? Will we share ourselves, our time, our talents with others and be a little more courageous or will we hold back out of fear or the chance of rejection? Will we be a little kinder, a little more patient, a little less judgmental even of ourselves? What will we do with our one life?

I don't know the answer to these questions for myself and I won't presume to guess the answer for others. All I know is that because I only have this one chance on the earth I need to try to make it the best that I can and do what I can to help others make their one life the best it can be as well.

 If we only live once we better live our lives well, hopefully making the world a little better than it would have been without us...