The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.  Life is a crazy ride and nothing is guaranteed. –Eminem

One of the great routines in my life is the early morning workouts at my old high school, Georgetown Prep.  Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday morning, a group of buddies make a pilgrimage to campus and try to stave off middle-age malaise.  While the results may not garner any photo opportunities from Muscle & Fitness, it is a healthy routine and a great bunch of people.

Last Tuesday morning, as I pulled up to make a left-hand turn onto campus, I noticed a banner memorializing Joe Reyda, the longtime Athletic Director at Gonzaga, who had suddenly and tragically passed away.  As I sat in silent reflection on the fragility of life, I spied my brother-in-law and another workout buddy, turning onto campus from the other direction.  They were cruising along with the top down in the convertible, ready to start another glorious day.

As their car eased down the long entranceway into the school, the light turned green, and I inched out into the intersection to make my turn.  Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed across Rockville Pike.  I whipped across the lanes into the school driveway and encountered the largest tree branch I had ever seen!  The massive limb missed hitting my brother-in-law’s car by mere seconds.  Phew!  Must be all that good clean living!

But the randomness of the event left us all a bit shaken.  It was a beautiful, calm, sunny morning.  There was no explicable reason for the branch to fall.  It was simply its time.  But what if its time had been two seconds earlier? The incident invoked existential conversations about trivial choices and mundane decisions leading to Sliding Door moments.  It also had us all thinking about the unremarkable magnificence of life and the precious gift of simple moments.

It’s All About Perspective

The struggles of everyday life can get to the best of us.  Responsibilities.  Pressures.  Financial burdens.  Emotional hurdles.  Sometimes, it’s easier to focus on all that is going wrong in our lives.  But how often do we step back and count our blessings?  A roof over our heads.  People who care about us.  The hope of a better tomorrow.  And at least one more day when a huge tree limb misses us entirely! If we are still breathing, we have a fighting chance for good times ahead.

Not that we want to trivialize our issues.  They are real and need to be communicated and addressed.  It will take hard work, transparency, and accountability to start moving in a better direction.  It is not a time for platitudes or trite sayings.  But every now and then a good dose of perspective is just what we need to shake us out of the tunnel vision on our problems.  A near miss.  A tragedy.  Something gone that we never knew we would miss so much. These little moments help recalibrate our senses back toward cherishing what we love in this world.  And help fill up our reservoir of resilience needed to take on life’s daily headaches.

Appreciation is a Daily Routine

These incidents are certainly wake-up calls.  But we can’t rely on them as a tool to better appreciate our current life.  We need to challenge ourselves to muster this type of healthy perspective on a more routine basis.  Appreciation is a muscle that we need to exercise daily!  Who do you cherish most in this world?  Who are the people that give you hope and purpose?  Who are your closest friends?  What simple routines bring you the most joy?  What activities clear your mind and keep you focused?  Spend some time thinking about those people.  Spend some time appreciating those things that bring you happiness.  It will not be time wasted.

Today, the branch might miss you.  But tomorrow?  It is promised to no one.   So go ahead and share those thoughts that have been kicking around inside your head for far too long.  Go ahead and tell those people closest to you how you feel about them.  Go ahead and start executing on your dreams.  Go ahead and take inventory of all those people and things you have taken for granted.  And then do something about it.  And for goodness sake, go ahead and hug your dog today!

We are all spending this moment on the right side of the ground.  Let’s honor and remember those who have gone before us.  And let’s make the most of every second we are still able to show our appreciation for those left in this world.