No parenting lesson today.
I hope you don’t mind I occasionally talk about something other than parenting.
Something hit me and I wanted to share with you.
Here goes.
It’s human nature.
We take things for granted.
We neglect things we have – especially those that come easy.
We don’t appreciate them and nurture them everyday as we should.
We assume those things will be here forever. We only realize it’s not true after we lose them.
Little do we know anything can happen and sometimes things can happen at the most unexpected hours.
You heard about the last Wednesday’s plane crash in Java, Indonesia?
Just as other news, I didn’t feel anything uncommon about the crash that killed all 45 people on board.
I only found out two days later that one of the victims is my friend’s brother-in-law.
Only then did I scour the web for more info about the crash.
Only then did I start to think what would I do if someone close to me was the victim.
Only then did I get worried how would my friend’s sister (the wife of the victim) continue her life without a husband.
When you know someone in a tragedy, it changes how you see and feel about the news.
My friend’s brother-in-law was living a jet-setting life and he was in town end April to celebrate his mother-in-law’s birthday.
Who would have expected that in less than 2 weeks, he would be gone forever.
To make things worse, his wife is now pregnant and due in July.
Suddenly, the world she used to have changed forever.
No warnings.
Nothing.
This story can happen to anyone. We won’t be able to predict what is in store for us tomorrow.
I may be gone tomorrow. Nobody knows.
That’s why we have to appreciate what we have. Don’t get busy for nothing. Stop taking things for granted.
To me, things that matter most in life are family and friends, health, freedom, and happiness.
When was the last time you had dinner with your family?
When was the last time you visited your folks back in hometown?
When was the last time you read story to your child?
When was the last time you said I love you to your spouse?
When was the last time you slowed down and enjoyed the trees and the birds in your neighborhood?
When was the last time you had a good laugh that made you cry?
Take some time everyday to appreciate even the tiniest things and people around you. As you can see, you don’t need to be wealthy to put a smile on your face and enjoy life.
Don’t wait until calamity strikes to wake you up to important things.
Perhaps by then, it might be too late already.
Live well and live fully.
