I think of Lacey often, and those sixteen days she was able to have her baby with her. I thought of her today as I just learned that she once again her time with another baby was cut short just last week. If I knew I only had sixteen days, two years, or anything short of lifetime with one of my children, husband, or any of my loved ones, would I do things differently? Of course I would. So why don’t I do them NOW? I am guilty of buying in to the counterfeit idea of being busy. Being busy is a false sense of accomplishment and is a trap that often serves as an outward gesture for validation. I am aware that sometimes being busy is something we cannot avoid. I’m talking about the “I’m on Facebook for the two hundredth time today,” or the “let me just pin a few things first,” kind of busy. If you had sixteen days to spend with your loved ones how would you spend your time? Would you cut certain things out of your daily routine, do certain things less often, or make an effort to do more? If you answered yes (I said yes), then make those changes NOW!
Tomorrow is never guaranteed. I realized this when I saw two heroes in a literal graveyard looking for fallen brothers. Our lives change so quickly (“The Pictures I Never Took”. War is not the only thing that threatens our loved ones. We are not vulnerable to accidents, illnesses, or other life altering occurrences on the home front and neither are our friends or family. We never know when our neighbors’ our spouses’ or our best friends’ last tomorrow is. We are human, some day we will run out of some days. Some day our babies will be have babies, and our loved ones may be thousands of miles away. Take time to enjoy the people you love RIGHT NOW.
I don’t think we need to intensely beat ourselves up over the things we wish we could change. I am as guilty as anyone of not spending my time wisely. I do pledge, however, that I WILL cut insignificant things out of my life that consume too much of my time and use that time in a more beneficial and wholesome way. Be wise with your time, it is something you can never get back. Do not wait until tomorrow to do things you wish you had done today. Time is literally ticking.
