Friday, March 15, 2013

I Don't Want To Miss a Thing.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and realize: I MISSED IT.
I don't want to miss a thing!
And there are no do-overs.

Yesterday, I was singing Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing at the top of my lungs as I drove down the road.  As songs have the power to do, I was transported back in time visiting moments where I was completely aware that I didn't want to miss a thing, that being right there in that moment was everything.

I visited a moment with my brother, Michael, when he was in the hospital near the end of his life.  The night was long and we didn't think he would make it.  He was clearly in between worlds, sitting up suddenly and jabbering unintelligibly as he looked at the corner of the ceiling at something or someone that only he could see.  The morning broke and there he was back with us, laughing, joking, holding Jeanne, his wife as she laid in the bed with him.

I visited a moment with my mom when she was taking her final breaths.  She had been in a coma for 4 days and the death rattle had begun several hours before letting us know the end was near.  I was alone with her and the rest of the family was poured into the other rooms of my sister's house as we held vigil over her.  Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked straight into my eyes, piercing my heart with the thousand souls behind her translucent purple eyes.  She was showering me with a depth of love that is beyond description, letting me see that life indeed goes on after we leave the body and she was being ushered by those thousand souls into the next realm.

I visited a moment with John, following his bypass surgery.  He was still sedated, going in and out of consciousness.  I laid my hands over his heart and gave thanks for this man, for his life and for the gift of us and our shared adventure.  He woke up and spoke to me as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just experienced major surgery, saying with a shit eatin' grin: Hey Gee!  I love you.  I drank him in and let his words grace my heart.

Then, I came back into present time and thought: Hell! I don't want to miss a thing NOW, in my own life.  I wanna enjoy this ride and be excited about what is to come this day and the next and the next for as long as it lasts.  One day will be my last day and I shall miss all that makes up this human experience - the chaos and the sublime.

Often, we zip through our days going from task to task and even though those tasks are necessary, we forget how precious each moment, each day actually is.  We wait for what we feel are the big events and MISS the things that are right in front of us.

I invite you to soak in the unexpected joys found in each day, to tune in (even just a few times a day) so you don't miss the things that fill you with a sense of wonder, the seemingly little things that make life so damn BIG and beautiful.

There are NO DO-OVERS!

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