Feb 8, 2021
We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance.
~Marcel Proust
The theme of this blog series is motivation and inspiration and I know this post theme seems very depressing, but I wanted to share that it does not need to be. It can be the catalyst for positive change.
Over the last year, I have watched the news and read updates from family and friends with announcements of death. No one ever thinks that day will come so quickly, yet time after time, it just comes out of no where and sucker punches you. Even when I watched my dad dying from cancer thirty-two years ago and it was evident that the outcome would not be as we had hoped, it still stung to know he was no longer physically here with us. Reading the quote from Marcel Proust struck a chord with me as our family faced another death we didn't expect. My husband had back surgery this past Thursday and as he was in the recovery area he received a call that his dad was in the hospital and it wasn't looking good for his survival. Not the kind of call you ever want to receive, much less as you are trying to recover from a surgery that was meant to bring hope for healing from a years old work injury. Difficult conversations needed to be had and decisions made. Floods of memories, both good and bad, brought to the surface. In the end, no one can defy death; not our loved ones, friends, nor ourselves.
Experiencing death like this makes you realize how important relationships are, no matter how strained they might be. It also makes you take a step back and think about your purpose in life and whether you are taking the chances and risks you should to live out that purpose. What is YOUR purpose and what do you want to do before that inevitable time of death comes? Take chances and live life to the fullest and build those relationships (or re-build if that's the case) while you still can!