Life is Short

We’ve all said it, we’ve all seen it and some of us have experienced it much too close to home but it is a lesson learned no matter how it is presented to us.

                                  Life is short……whatever you are planning……..do it now.

                                                Well, at least as soon as you possibly can.

I hear it now more than ever as I am stepping into my 6th decade of life. It wasn’t until I started talking seriously about retirement that I heard friends, family and loved ones tell me “don’t wait, go as soon as you can make it happen”.

I know it is true and we all have a different format for which we base our final decision of follow through. No matter what our plan, there are hoops to jump through, finances to put in place and a process to follow.

Within the last two years, I’ve heard of freak accidents and other situations involving friends that cost them their lives. One where a simple trip and fall on a 3 step entry caused a perfectly healthy 55 year old man to pass away within hours.

A girlfriend lost a brother AND a sister, within months of each other, both passing suddenly in their 50’s just before becoming empty-nesters, a custodian after 25 years of employment within arms reach of retirement due to heart condition and just last week a good friend of my sister and brother-in-law was found dead of a heart attack at 50.

                                                     It is too soon, way way too soon.

There just isn’t a golden age any more where we should start doing, doing, doing. It is all about living in the present.

I’ve had three (3) close calls myself, just in the last month and thank goodness that covers the wives’ tale that everything comes in 3’s.

I’ve tripped on a craggy rock in my back yard and fell flat on my side from standing height just missing another rock within inches from my head.       Unscathed other than a tender upper shoulder.

Craggy rocks around our pond

I’ve had a horrible experience with a dizzy spell (vertigo-like) at work putting me out of commission for 30 minutes. Witnesses were afraid I was having a heart attack. No clue what caused that but it is freaky how I could have fallen off the dock had I been alone without my friend to grab onto.

And while it was happening, in my head and vision, I truly thought I was saving her life as well as mine!

Third, I’ve experienced a close call accident which could have rendered me disabled if not dead had I not been paying attention. Still not close enough attention, apparently, I was reactionary enough to stop my vehicle within 2 feet of the ‘perpetrator’.

It wouldn’t have mattered much that they were in the wrong now would it?

With just under a year for Bill and I to both reach retirement, (don’t think we haven’t crunched the numbers for an even earlier date) we are trying to live right, stay well and tread carefully in our everyday lives.

If something is going to happen, most likely we will have no control but we are trying to be cognizant of our surroundings at all times in all situations.

This weekend, I am spending a couple of quality days with my 5 sisters and an afternoon with our mom. We get together once a year, just us, and laugh and enjoy each other’s company to the fullest. We enjoyr the moments we are together. There is no stress, not too much committment but simply a true bonding of togetherness and love. I don’t want the regret of not having joined this small amount of time, just in case.

So, in closing, I kiss the ground (figuratively) each morning, whisper a thank you to the powers that be above or wherever they are, appreciate each day as it comes as well as try my best to turn a sad face into a smile with everyone I meet.

I hope you can do the same.

Thanks for stopping in! I know many of you are doing just the above and have already taught me a thing or two about moving in this direction. Thank you for that!