While You Still Have It

About a year ago, my great grandpa’s heart stopped.

He had gone to a dance with his friend and had driven home the night before. That day he did chores that an 85 year old man shouldn’t be doing all in the same day; mowing his large lawn, splitting wood, and working on his farm. That night he went to another dance.

That was the dance where his heart stopped. Surprisingly, somebody there was an EMT and just happened to have a defibrillator in their car. They went to get it and shocked my grandpa back to life.

It amazes me that when he was splitting wood, or even as late as when he was dancing, he had no clue he was going to almost die and that his survival would depend on a total stranger.

I try to remember to not take life for granted. People do not want to talk and think about their death often. I agree, we shouldn’t think about it too much. Still, I do believe we should think about what we want to do with our lives while we are here.

I believe we should be patient and kind to everyone, including our enemies. I know that if I got in a fight with someone and never got the opportunity to resolve it, I would feel terrible.

When I am gone, I want to be sure I am completely satisfied with the impact I have made on the world, because, when you are dead you can’t change anything, good or bad, that you have done here. You have to bear your own decisions and no one else’s.

I believe we have one life on Earth, one chance to make any decision, and only so long to change someone’s life. I believe before we leave, we should be satisfied with the things we have done, the final words we said to people, and the difference we made in other people’s lives.

I believe that we should have no regrets when we die because we can’t go back. We all have one chance. Use it.