Never Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today

It's a wisdom we hear our whole lives, and it usually goes in one ear and out the other. We pay no heed to its meaning because we fail to see any relevance in it. We are young, vibrant, healthy. We are active, busy, successful, social. We have friends and things to do.

We have time, to be grownups, responsible and legitimate later. But isn't that what we all think? Living in the moment, the here and now, sometimes we forget to think about the bigger picture.

Sometimes we want better for ourselves, from ourselves, but.....we think we can work at that tomorrow. Sometimes the temptations of immediate gratification and the adrenaline rush of the thrill outweigh common sense, and sometimes.....just sometimes.....tragedy occurs and tomorrow....all those tomorrows...never come.

By the time I was 30 I was a mother to two young boys and a wife twice over. I was already a grown up and any notion of youthful partying was a faded memory like waking in the wee hours of dawn from a dream you can scarcely harvest images from.  Lets be honest, I was never much of a drinker or partier anyway. I am admittedly an alcohol lightweight, and a true innocent as far as drugs go. I have always been a bit of a wallflower, full of anxiety ridden angst in large social situations, so even in my wildest days, I was a bit of snore. Adulthood was a good fit for me and a natural and easy transition.

But there are those who fight the process of growing up with every fiber of their being.  I guess on some deeply rooted level, I am secretly in awe of these vivacious and crazy lifetastic (oooh I should coin that word,  love it, made it up and love it) individuals. They live their lives just for the moment. They take risks. They like thrills. They are not afraid of the underbelly and seedier side of the world and they live life in the moment.....for now.  It must be exhausting at times not knowing what comes next, scary even. But.... I know from personal interaction, that at some point every one of these individuals reaches a point when they are ready to begin thinking about tomorrow, not just today.

Last week, a young man I knew who lived on the edge just a little too long , fell off. I know he had reached a point where he was ready to begin planning a tomorrow. In our last conversation, he spoke of desperately wanting and being ready to find a girl he could love and have a family with. He spoke of securing stable employment and getting his life on track. He spoke of purging his life of those who were holding him back and surging forward, into a future of hope and happiness, peace and health.  He wanted out of the neighborhood and out of the life he considered his downfall. He was ready. He had the potential.  He had a dream. He had goals.

But...as is often the case with theses eclectic lifetastic savants, there is always the need for one last joy ride, one last adventure, one last thrill.  Tragically, his dreams and his goals will never be realized. At the age of 30, his life was taken. Unnecessarily, unceremoniously, without regard, without care, without any shred of decency. He was robbed of his dreams, his belongings, his dignity, and all his tomorrows without regard. He made a choice, its true, but the individuals present, made a choice too, and theirs was a choice resulting in the death of a 30 year old man who had family and friends, a future of hopes and dreams, and the right to live. The choice of those responsible for allowing him to die and doing nothing was indecent. They chose to steal his belongings, his wallet, his possessions, as they walked around his body lying there fading from this world into the next. They were criminals. Free will is a funny thing...sometimes it lets us make the worst choices. Worry not...Karma is truly a bitch, and the universe gives back to you what you put out there

The lesson is simple, live your life, live it lifetastically, but do it well, do it safely, do it smart, do it without regret and remember we never know, NONE of us, what tomorrow brings or even if tomorrow will come.

Be happy today, treat people well, respect everyone, even those who live their lives differently than you, and remember we all occupy space on this planet we all call home. Chose your friends well. Chose people who will care for you, love you, and help you when you need it most, not those who would leave you to die in pile of your own ilk. Help everyone, but open your home only to those you know would do the same for you.