Living in the Here, Not Hereafter

Whenever someone in our life dies, we all say "we never got to do this", "I never told him or her this" or "he or she will never know how I truly felt about them". We all do it. It's a part of the grieving process and realizing that we'll never ever have that chance again. In "Hereafter" starring Matt Damon, a few different people deal with death and brushes with death. They start to rethink things and try to connect with their loved ones, who have passed away through a psychic. Of course, it would make perfect sense here for me to talk about the age old question "do you believe in life after death?", but that's too easy. So, I have another question... and trust me, I'm as guilty of it as anyone, if not more so... why don't we do the things we want to do now? Why don't we tell people how we feel about them now? Why don't we start crossing off our bucket list now? We're afraid if we reveal our true feelings that we have too much to lose. We may lose a friendship if they don't feel the same way. We can't go on that dream vacation, because work always gets in the way, kids get in the way, we don't have the money. Whatever it is, there's always a reason. We'll get to it... someday. We should start making someday today. I took advice from a friend over the weekend, who told me that I need to take time for myself. I said "I know, I know. I want to, but there's just no time." He told me to take one hour a day. ONE HOUR A DAY. Though finding one hour a day is hard for me, I did it... and I felt much better today. I took the scenic route home yesterday to explore a new neighborhood - something I've been wanting to do for months. I made myself dinner Saturday night - something I haven't done in months. I started writing in this blog again - something I haven't done in months. They're all such simple things, but they're making a difference. So, I leave you with this. Don't wait for the hereafter. Don't wait until it's too late. Start doing and saying what you want to do and say right now. There's no time like the present. And that, my friends, is my present to you.