Out of tomorrows.

I get plenty of fwd mails, especially those "Woe to he who does not forward this to 96 people in the next 20 seconds!" kind of e-mails. But I have to say, sometimes I do get forwarded e-mails that make you go hmm.

A couple of days ago, one of them told a story about a woman who always saved her special dress or perfume for a special occassion. She didn't want to 'waste' it by wearing them on a regular day. Well, one day she died and she never got to wear that dress or perfume. And her husband decided her funeral turned out to be that one occassion she was 'saving' all her treasures for.

Wow. It was just a lightbulb moment for me. How many times have we put something off or taken something for granted because there's always tomorrow? Or we're always waiting for the 'right time' to tell someone something or to do something meaningful. Why can't we give flowers just because or tell our parents we love them for no reason at all?

It's a scary thought, to die tomorrow and go, "Oh crap, I shoulda woulda coulda..." I'm not being fatalistic here but we rest on the thought that we've got a good 50 years on earth. Praise the Lord if that's the case but don't get too cocky I say. I could walk out of my office building and a signboard could fall on me and I'd die on the spot, none the wiser. And then what? Have I told the people I love how I feel about them? Have I said sorry to the people I owe apologies too? Have I forgiven people who have hurt me? Have I finished editing the magazine for the January issue? I still have a black dress hanging in the closet with its price tag on and I'm saving it for a fancy party or important event. What if that 'event' never comes around?

It scares me. The thought of dying now. I may bitch about work and the weather and life in general...But nothing is so horrible that life is worth ending. I still have things to do, places to see and people to meet. It's so easy to take everything for granted. If I had to make a New Year's resolution, it would be to not wait for tomorrows when I can do it today. In fact, I'm not even going to wait for the New Year - I could be dead by then. Ok enough morbid thoughts. So if I start hugging you on the street for no apparent reason, kindly ignore my crazy outburst - I'm just having a 'c'est la vie' moment.

Don't live in yesterdays and don't count on tomorrows. You have today.