Earlier this month, a local man went missing and one of the details that they included in the stories about his disappearance was the fact that he had walked out after a disagreement with his wife and that was the last time he was seen. They also said that there weren't underlying issues in their marriage so they didn't think that the fight caused him to make a choice not to come back. When they found him a few days later, it appeared that he'd taken a turn too fast and his car went off the edge of a cliff. One of the first things that Joe mentioned was the fact that his last moment with his wife was an argument and not only that, but now everyone knew that their last moment together was one that she'd probably regret for the rest of her life.
Earlier this month, a local man went missing and one of the details that they included in the stories about his disappearance was the fact that he had walked out after a disagreement with his wife and that was the last time he was seen. They also said that there weren’t underlying issues in their marriage so they didn’t think that the fight caused him to make a choice not to come back. When they found him a few days later, it appeared that he’d taken a turn too fast and his car went off the edge of a cliff. One of the first things that Joe mentioned was the fact that his last moment with his wife was an argument and not only that, but now everyone knew that their last moment together was one that she’d probably regret for the rest of her life.
A few days later, while I was still thinking about the sadness that this man’s wife was probably going through, I read this post on being present and was struck by the sentence, “Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed” which Lisa noted may sound a little morbid, but I think is worth remembering and thinking about often. I hear so many stories of tragic, unplanned losses and always think, ‘that could never happen to me’ and I hope it never does, but the reality is that there is always that possibility and we can never count on someone being there forever so we need to do everything we can to create memorable moments together and live without regrets.
With my goal this year of being more intentional with my life in general, I want to stop putting things off until tomorrow. Too often lately I tell Joe that I’m going to make him dinner or work on a project he’s been hoping I’ll finish after I get home from work and then the end of the day comes and I’m tired and tell him that I’ll do it tomorrow instead and then the scene repeats itself for a few days. These are trivial little things that probably won’t make that big of a difference in the long run, but making a habit of putting things off when they’re little and I could easily do them today tends to lead to bigger, more important things being put off as well. I’m making it a priority of mine to choose one thing that I can do that will benefit Joe every day and let him know that I care about him enough to follow through on my little, inconsequential promises so that I will always have as few regrets as possible!
What things have you been putting off for tomorrow that you’ll regret if tomorrow never comes? Forget about the things that aren’t as important today and get those done instead!
Photography by Emily-Jane