Life can certainly throw us a curve ball!  This past week, our vacation time ended shorter than planned due to the tragic death of a long-time friend.  These things are often sudden and shocking.  Tragedy can come out of nowhere when we least expect it.

Accidents happen.  This is a fallen world, and bad things happen to good people.

I like to take time to reflect on situations that happen around me.  It is not necessarily always enjoyable, but I do find it important.  We can get so busy in the hustle and bustle of going through our day and completing the “to do” list that we can miss important opportunities that we may never have again.  It is in this time of reflection that we can hear the “still small voice” speak to us.

Living with regret can be an unsettling thing.  Often, it means that we do not have the opportunity to un-do a wrong. Regret can also mean that we feel a loss of time which we cannot recapture in order to do something that should have been done previously.   Regret could mean disappointment over a relationship gone bad or words not spoken to someone that needed to be said.  All the way around, regret is simply loss, disappointment and sorrow.  Three words that none of us would ever want to live with.

When we lose someone we love, it is easy to feel like the world should stand still and recognize our loss.  However, it does not.  Life goes on for others… grocery shopping, parties, errands. It is clear to see that others do not share our sense of loss.  Yet, isn’t this what Jesus said would be happening when He returned?  He said people would be busy doing life, marrying, giving birth, buying, and selling.  Jesus is going to come back as quickly as a thief comes in the night.  Surprise!  Death can come to any one of us just that quickly, too.

In my time of reflection after the death of my friend, I am reminded of a few things.  Yes, we all know these things, but still, we find ourselves “too busy” to remember to do some of them.  We may have good intentions, but intentions never get anything done.  I would like to share some of my reflections with you.

6 things we all know, but need to remind ourselves of from time to time:

1.  Don’t wait until someone is gone to express what they mean to you.  Take time to tell those you love how much they mean to you on a daily basis.  You never know if that day was your last day.  Death can be sudden.

2.  Be spiritually ready to leave this world.   I have already had to face death at age forty-four when I had open-heart surgery.  I can honestly tell you, when death is a real possibility, you will seriously consider and re-evaluate where you will spend eternity.  What I am saying is – do not wait until death is staring you in the face to re-evaluate.  Not everyone gets a fragment of time to make things right with their creator.  My friend who died last week was involved in a gasoline fire that burned 60 percent of his body.  He had only ten minutes, in excruciating pain, before the paramedics sedated him.  He never woke up.  Accidents happen and can come suddenly, when least expected.

3.  Be thankful for the time that you have with those you love. Yes, we all know family members can stomp our last nerve sometimes, but what if you did not have them anymore? Take time for those you love. Fathers, don’t make work your priority instead of your family.  You will set yourself up for a huge regret.

4.  Give forgiveness and ask for forgiveness for any wrongs done.  This concept is huge and worthy of an entire book. The act of forgiving someone or asking for forgiveness from someone can truly set you free. Regardless or not if the other person is willing to forgive you, your simple act WILL release you. Remember, in order for Jesus to forgive us, we must forgive others.  Period.

5.  Eliminate things that you regret or will regret if at all possible. We have in our power, most times, to alleviate regret before it settles in to become a part of our innermost being.  When time passes and there is no more time left to do the things that we wanted to do, needed to do, and intended to do, this is when we look back over our life and regrets flood over us.  Take inventory of your life now.  Make a few changes and get back on course.  Chances are you will need to do this ever so often. If you periodically look at the road your life is on, small changes here and there will get you closer to where you want to be when your days are over, rather than never re-prioritizing important things in your life.

6.  Don’t put off doing things that need to be done TODAY.  We all procrastinate.  It is just human nature.  It is amazing how our previous “priorities” immediately fall by the way side when a true emergency comes our way.  What once was “super important” falls to the category of trivial and insignificant.

Life is short.  Make each day count.  You may not get another one.

*Please share this with one person.  We can ALL use the reminders!