Living in the now

Last night, someone I love very much was almost killed in a car accident. Luckily, they will be ok, but the what if's are consuming me.

What I have learned is this.

I have an amazing life. I love my children, my family, my friends, my home, my job and just about everything else that touches me. Sure there are some crappy days, but those days are part of my life too. Sometimes I am so consumed with what is going to happen tomorrow that I miss what is happening today.

If you love someone, you should tell them...often. If you are good at something, you should participate in it...often. You should try hard to make those around you have a lighter burden, because when it comes down to it, what you make others feel is your legacy. If people leave your funeral and can say..."I loved her, I remember when..." and laugh, then your job as a human being, one of God's creatures is done and done well.

I have loved fully. This is a gift that most people don't get to experience. Most people go through life, find something that feels good and they go with it. I have been blessed beyond reason to have experienced something different. I have shared a connection with another human being that defies logic and sense. I have given myself fully and been burned, but I will not be bitter, because what he gave me was a gift. I cannot own what someone else does with a gift. I cannot be responsible if someone chooses to throw their gift away. I can only control myself, and so I choose to be thankful. I choose to be hopeful. I choose to be patient. I choose to be kind.

I will live and laugh and love and dance like nobody is watching. You never know when it will all be ripped from your hands. You don't have a choice in that.

I choose to never let anyone I love wonder if I love them. I choose to embrace life fully and love with reckless, hopeful abandon. I choose life, love and happiness.

If that is the case...how can it NOT choose me?