Everyday is a Gift

There is a bottle of perfume sitting on my cabinet that I was given nung ten years old pa ako. As you can tell, I have pack rat tendencies! Hehe. That pattern started as a young child. I could never bear to throw things away. Ewan ko ba. There was more to it than not wanting to throw things away. I loved the feeling I had when I would receive something new, and would not want to spoil it by using it unless it was for something special.

I would want to save it for a special occasion. A new polo would sit in the closet, until a special event to wear it. Perfume would sit on my cabinet, not to be used for everyday, but for a special 'something'. This was a pattern in my life for many years. For some reason, it just started automatically.

Perhaps, this is not the best perspective to view life. It is reminiscent of the woman on the Titanic, who when was being lowered into the lifeboat said, "If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have had that Chocolate Mousse dessert." It is a view of life that speaks a lie. The belief is that, kung may i-eenjoy ako ngayon, I won't be able to look forward to anything good like that in the future.

This belief steals the joy from living in the present, and also lies about what the future might hold. Often it takes sad or traumatic situation to cause a person to stop and take stock their life's perspective and lifestyle. For example, my good friend Rhoda. Isang araw, out of the blue, she got one of those devastating 'phone calls' that we all dread receiving. Her sister Julie had passed away unexpectedly.

Rhoda went over to their home to help her brother in law with the sad task of preparation for the funeral. They were in the bedroom deciding on clothes Julie would wear as she was laid to rest. Her brother pulled out of the drawer a beautiful dress, actually naka-wrap pa nga sa tissue. Rhoda gasped as she saw the astronomical cost on the price tag. "Binili ni Julie ito sa Singapore 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. I guess this is it".

Ang ganda nung dress. It was exquisitely, handmade in silk, with a delicate cobweb of lace. But after seeing that dress and made all those flashbacks, there was something that changed Rhoda's life forever. She told me that "No one should ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion!".

After the funeral, Rhoda began to evaluate her life from a different perspective. She began to see life as something to be enjoyed, not endured. She started to make changes, although maliliit nung una, but for her, they had great significance. She sat in the garden more and didn't worry about the weeds. She wore expensive perfume on ordinary days, after all co-workers and cashiers have noses that function just as well as party goers! Hehe.

She lit that candle that had been sitting as a center piece on the dining room table collecting dust. And she has this window that she's been wanting to fix for years and she finally did it. She invited those friends round for dinner, including yung matagal na niyang kagalit na naging kagalit ko din for the last sixteen years, and said we must get together.

You see, my friend determined that she would live each day as if it was her last. Now every morning, when Rhoda opens her eyes, she tells herself that this day is special. Every day, every breath, every minute of her life is truly a gift from. And by her, I got inspired. Very much. Which actually made sense a lot. Right?!!!

Your life perspective changes when you start living each day as if it was your last. You start to look at all the things that you want to accomplish in life and actually get started!! You stop watching everyone else doing it. Have the courage to start thinking "It's my turn now" and do what is in your heart.

I met an old lady in Isabela who began a painting career at age seventy six. Remember Golda Meir? She was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969 at age seventy one. Another friend of mine's tita is in her eighties and has in the last two years, been white-water rafting in Cagayan De oro. She is excitedly planning her next trip!

Don't wait years, or until something traumatic happens to get your attention. Start now to reflect on your life's perspective and begin living without regrets. Let me use the quote of speaker and entrepreneur, Peter Sage:

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, "Wow - What a Ride!"