A friend
of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper
wrapped package:
"This",
- He said - "isn't any ordinary package."
- as
he unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.
"She
got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She
has never put it on. She was saving it for a special occasion".
"Well, I guess this is it". He got near the bed and placed
the gift box next to the other clothings he was taking to the funeral
house, his wife had just died.
He turned
to me with tears in his eyes and said:
"Never
save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is
a special occasion".
I
still think those words changed my life.
Now I read
more and clean less.
I sit
on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend
more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experiences to be lived
up to, not survived through.
I no
longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day. I'll wear
new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.
I don't
save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever
I want to.
The
words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my dictionary.
If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen
or do it now.
I don't
know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't
be there the next morning, this nobody can tell. I think she might
have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I'd
like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food.
It's
these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time
had come.
I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would
meet, send letters... letters that I wanted to write "One of this
days".
I would regret and feel sad, because I didn't say to my brothers
and sons, not enough times at least, how much I love them.
Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring
laughter and joy into our lives.
And, on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special
day.
Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.
If you're too busy and you say to yourself that you will do or say
things "One of these days", remember that "One day" is far away...
or might never come...
Author Unknown
(Adapted by Keith Wilkinson)
Spend some time
reading this.
It holds useful messages for the soul.
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