Do it this very moment! Don't put it off-Don't wait.
There is no use in doing a kindness If you do it a day too late!.....Kingsley
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth......Proverbs 27:1
Another month is almost coming to an end. We are enduring the heat and humidity, but I am thankful for all our blessings and how God watches over us. Two months ago we went on a cruise to Europe and both Galen and I got very ill with pneumonia. I never thought we could get it, since we had taken the pneumonia vaccines a few years ago. However, that is not the case. Having the vaccine doesn't mean you are immune to it, just that you get a "milder" case. Well, if that was mild I would hate to experience the stronger one. My grandfather died from pneumonia in the hospital and so did my father-in-law. It is not to be taken lightly, especially when you get older. Thankfully, the medical staff on the ship took good care of us and we survived it. It could have ended up a lot worse. You see, we cannot predict the future, which is actually a good thing. We probably would not want to know. But what I realized is that we need to take action with the things we want to do or say and not put them off.
Recently, there have also been many disasters in many States. There have been floods, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, airplane crashes and murders, just to mention a few things. One day families were together and the next day their loved ones were gone! What an unexpected loss. I cannot even begin to imagine the sudden grief they have to endure. I wonder how many things were left unsaid or how many things were left unresolved, because they thought there will always be another day to deal with it. Why do we always leave things for later? How much time do we think we have? My mother used to really bug me, because she wanted me to do things "now", and I would say: I don't have time, I will do it later.
I remember a couple of instances where I wished I would have not postponed what I wanted to do.
We had a neighbor, her name was Pat. She was a widow. She had a daughter who lived in another state. I had never met her. Pat got sick and I called her a few times and promised I would go visit. She kept asking me to come over. Well, time went by and one Saturday morning I called to see if I could visit. An unfamiliar voice answered the phone. I explained who I was and why I was calling. She told me she was Pat's daughter from Minnesota. To my big surprise I was told that Pat had passed away that very morning! I was stunned and sad at the same time. I had waited too long. I regretted that I had not acted sooner. That taught me a lesson. Have you ever had that happen to you?
On my daily devotion a couple of days ago I came across an article in the Los Angeles Times.. (not my favorite paper).It was submitted by Ann Wells and the title is "A story to live by"
She wrote:
"My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. "This", he said is not a slip. This is lingerie" He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip. It was exquisite; silk, handmade and trimmed with cobweb of lace. The price tag with an astronomical figure was still attached. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion." He took the slip from me put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me. "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Everyday you are alive is a special occasion. "
I remember those words through the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California, from the Midwestern town where my sister's family lives. I thought about the things that she had done without realizing that they were special. I thought about all the things that she had not seen, heard or done. I am still thinking about his words, and they changed my life.
I am reading more and dusting less. I am sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I am spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to savor, not endure. I am trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them. I am not "saving" anything. We use our good china and crystal for every special event-such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped and the first camellia blossom. I wear my good blazer to the market if I feel like it. I am not saving my good perfume for special parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that function as well as my party-going friends.
"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it is worth seeing, hearing or doing, I want to see, hear and do it now. I am not sure what my sister would have done had she known that she wouldn't be here for tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think she would have called some family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think she would have gone out for Chinese dinner, her favorite food. I am guessing-I'll never know/ It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get intouch with-someday. Angry because I hadn't written certain letter that I intended to write-one of these days.Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough that I love them."
So, you see, the point of the story is that we don't know how much time we have on this earth. Don't put things off. Don't wait for tomorrow or a special moment because tomorrow may never come.
DO IT NOW!
God Bless
