Facing Mortality

There's something good to be said about facing your mortality. We don't always, do we? I mean we don't give it a moment of thought when we're young. We grow up thinking we'll never be old enough to date, or to drive a car.  Then, when we achieve that milestone, we wonder if we'll have a career, marry, buy a house, raise a family. I suppose most of us are so busy later, as we fulfill those dreams, that we don't have time to ponder our impermanence. If we're lucky like my dad, (or unlucky like my dad) we'll gaze at our reflection in the bathroom mirror one morning and see an old person looking back at us. It is then that we tend to think about Life and how we've lived it. Sadly, it may be too late then to affect much positive change.

But here's the good part: I think about my Life every day now. I never used to, of course. But I do now. I think about things I've taken for granted - little joys such as walking, caring for myself, or enjoying a meal with my feet under my own table. I think also about the people and the relationships I've taken for granted - wives, children, friends, family. When I realise that these can (and may yet) be taken from me, I appreciate them even more. Everyone and everything takes on a new and greater value. Even strangers. And yeah, even the slowpoke at the green light ahead of me at the intersection.

I don't argue much with my wife these days. Ivy's room is a smelly pigsty. And sometimes, there's no milk for my coffee. It just doesn't seem to matter as much as it used to. I'm breathing, thinking, walking, existing. Life is pretty damned good at the moment. And that's enough to make me smile.

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