Monday to Sunday

 

 

"Don't put off to tomorrow what you should get done today..."

As I have gotten older, I find myself reading the obits more and more. As I graduated from high school in 1967, I find more and more of my classmates getting their names in that section of the paper that nobody aspires too. In fact, as the economists say, the number of classmates and friends who are showing up in the weekly obits are "increasing at an increasing rate". In my minds eye, these folks who are now leaving us are still the kids I knew in high school. Even though at reunions I see how they have aged, I still think of them as they were in 1967.

The suddenness of death some of them experienced recently brought me to this thought. On Monday morning, when people are not only planning their day, but also their week, how many think their name might end up in the obits on Sunday? I would venture to say very few. And yet, that is reality. A fall, a heart attack, an aneurysm, a car accident - many unexpected reasons why someone could not finish the week.

I have addressed the issue before on how important it is to go out clean. Unfinished business. Not with money, although that is also important, but with relationships. Recently, someone posted on Facebook the three things you should say every morning when your feet hit the floor are "thank you, thank you and thank you". And then go out and live the day with the vigor and passion each day deserves. A broken relationship can never be repaired if you are not here to repair it and lost opportunities can never be recaptured if you are absent. Even in the midst of sorrow, each day, every day is a gift to be lived with joy. The wise mentors who counseled us to live each day as if it was our last, knew what they were talking about.

My goal every week is always to meet someone new, learn something more about someone I know, and love the ones dear to my heart deeper than the week before. To serve more, expect less.  As my tomorrows become less, and my yesterdays become more, the value of each day increases. Most people will never have the opportunity to change the world. But every day, each of us can change just a little, a little bit at a time. And from Monday to Sunday, that is a good thing to put in our daily planners.