Those Moments in Our Lives

Sometimes we're reminded of our mortality. We're reminded that through the grace of God, or fortune, or whatever else we believe in, that our time on earth is finite, as it is for those around us that we care for. We're reminded harshly, blindsided usually, and the reminder has all the subtlety of being hit by a truck.

A brush with a difficult sickness, the death of a friend or family member, or perhaps some other awareness-quaking event in your our lives brings us back to this conclusion. We lament that we were surprised again when it happens - this feeling - that we haven't held it dear in our hearts since the last time this knowledge visited, and we pledge to do better. It's a bitter but real taste - these moments - and ones that each of us know to be absolute truths. It's the ache of loss, and the regret at missed chances to have done better. It's wondering what your last words were, and if any actions you might have taken could have changed the outcome.

And we pledge to do better - we will have more profound conversations, we will let those we love know it regularly, and we will cherish the small things in our lives that make any day worth celebrating. And we do....for a while.

Then routine, our old friend that helps the days pass unnoticeably creeps up again. The ache fades little by little and our thoughts turn away from the profound and towards the mundane.

And life goes on.