The Reminders We Continue To Need

This post I wrote and posted to our blog two years ago today, “Paso Robles: A Community That Comes Together”, showed up in my “Facebook Memories”. These few paragraphs ring true to this day and probably will until the end of time…but they are well worth rereading for the reminder:

“Now to my soapbox…we see so much hate and lack of compassion every day. We see it on the news (international, national, and local), we see it on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and we can even see it in our own homes. I don’t understand. It’s like we simply forget the fragility of life. We forget that we won’t be here forever and neither will those that we love and care about.

As corny and kooky as this may sound to you, we have got to find a way to enjoy more of our moments. We have got to find more compassion and use it. We need to agree to disagree on certain things. We need to be okay that people have different thoughts, ideals, and opinions than we do. There has to be a way to be kinder to one another. I know that tragedies will not stop…it should serve as a common thread amongst all of us and be the catalyst for compassion.

My hope is that Jana’s passing can serve as yet another reminder that we are given this gift that can be taken away at any moment. I hope that her passing will make each of us be present in our moments a little bit more. I hope her passing pushes us to set aside the trivial daily crap and embrace the time we have with our family, with friends, or even when we have a rare moment of solitude. I hope we can pause and hear our breath…feel our heartbeat. That my friends, is all we have.”

I believe it’s always easy to talk about this but rarely easy to do. It’s hard to live each moment of everyday like it could be your last. It’s difficult to be kind when you feel angry, depressed, busy, or overwhelmed. I get it. I can preach kindness and compassion with the best of them but I struggle to get outside of my own head and follow through.

We are all on this blue marble hurtling through space together. All lucky and fortunate and privileged to get a shot at this thing they call life. We truly are all in this together. Why so many of us cannot find reason enough in that to be kind and compassionate to each other is beyond me. This rodeo will all be over before we know it. The blink of an eye. Are you happy with who you are? Are you happy with what you are putting out into the world?

I know, some may say this is a corny conversation to have…I used to think so too. I don’t anymore. I think it’s a valuable conversation, worth discussing over and over and over again until some of us change our ways. It’s as simple as talking less shit about other people. It’s as simple as a smile, a hug, a “how are you”, or offering an ear.

This has nothing to do with Christmas spirit or New Year’s resolutions. This is about everyday life and knowing that one day, that “everyday life” will, without question, be taken from us. It is a privilege. Treat it as such.