What If You Knew That This Was Your Last Time?

Dear Friends,

My son recently went on a week-long field trip to Washington, DC. He begged me NOT to chaperone. It was the first time he’s been that far away from us for an extended period of time with no other family members and he did not want me to be there. When he was younger he always asked me to chaperone and, of course, I did! At the final parent meeting before the trip, as his teacher was discussing the final details, I was overcome with emotion and began to cry silently. I will never chaperone another field trip again, I thought to myself. If I had known the last field trip was going to be the last with my son, would I have enjoyed it more? Would I have been more present? Gosh, I can’t even remember what the last trip was! How about you? Was there ever a time you realized after the fact that that was the last time you were ever going to do _________ or to see _________? What if you knew it was going to be your last time? Would you do anything different?

It’s an interesting question. One that I’ve been pondering for a while. What if we lived every moment of our lives as if that moment with these people, under these circumstances, was going to be our last? How different would our lives be? How much more engaged would we be with one another? I imagine things would be a WHOLE lot different in such amazing ways! So, here we are, living our lives in these uncertain times. My hope is that we shift our perspective and begin to look at life – the people we love, the people we don’t care for, the beauty that surrounds us, the experiences that take our breath away, that shapes us, challenges us, grows us, breaks us – and may we look at all of the complexities, the beauty and difficulties of life as opportunities to have gratitude for. that. moment. in. time. Because, we just don’t know if that may be our last. Here’s to being present, breathing deeply, loving wholly and extending gratitude freely to ourselves and those around us!

I’m grateful to know you

With love,

Rica