Mortality Rears It's Ugly Head

Sometimes things happen that seem extremely important and very serious and then a second thing happens that shows me that it really isn't so. Case in point, last Saturday my glasses broke and I had to be driven by my wife to see about getting them fixed. Once at the shop I found that they didn't have my frame in stock (the lenses were cut for the frame) and that it could take up to ten days to get new ones. I cannot see without my glasses so there is no way I could drive, read or let's face it, even work. To me this was a very big deal and I felt quite a bit helpless and overwhelmed at the chance that I would have to wait even a portion of that time to be able to see properly again. It just invokes a sense of helplessness and dependency that I am unaccustomed to.

Then I got the word that my best friend's mother-in-law had passed away the night before. Suddenly my problem didn't seem so serious anymore. Sure it would make life a lot more difficult but clearly, there are much worse things that can happen. Whenever something like this happens it inevitably makes me think about mortality, mine as well as others. I'm sure this is a normal and common thing to occur but since I am such a deep thinking kind of person, for me it goes to another level. I've thought about what will happen when/if just about everyone close to me were to die and how it would impact everybody else who is left behind and what our lives would be like as we go about trying to move on. This includes me and what it would be like for my family and friends if I were to die. Naturally since this isn't such a rosy, cheerful subject it only stands to reason that there isn't a lot of smiling and laughter going on when I am thinking about these things.

Let's face it, it's going to happen at some point. All of us are going to leave this mortal coil and pass on to something else. No matter how much we believe or think that we know through our religion (or lack thereof) ultimately the truth of the matter is that we do not know what is going to happen to us. All we can do is guess and surmise and hope that what we were meant to accomplish and what we wanted to accomplish will all be completed at that time, or that at least we'll have as much of the wish list checked off as possible.

Sometimes I feel that we need these reminders so that we don't get too complacent in life. If there's anything that we want to do whether it be traveling, music, writing or spending time with our kids, we need to do it now instead of putting it off for another day or time. I'm forty-six years old and when it gets down to it, I don't know if there will be a tomorrow or a next week. Nothing is promised so take care of it today. At least I can try to live that way, because I don't want to leave anybody behind that will end up saying they wished they had more time with me or that there were things that weeer eleft undone. The way I see it that's one of the worst things you can do to people you love.

Published by Don Leach