Time. There's never enough of it, and we rarely know how much of it we have left. Try doing something pleasurable, and time seems to speed up, while doing something distasteful, causes it to slow down like a flood of molasses.
I've always been mindful of just how short and fragile our existence is on this planet, when I was ten. That's when my sisters grandmother passed after an accident in her kitchen. She'd been cooking (something she loved doing), and had spilled hot shortening on herself, causing a massive heart attack.
She was beloved by us all, but my relatives made me go up to the casket and kiss her on the cheek...
I had no preparation on what to expect. She didn't quite look like herself, and I was surprised at just how cold her skin was. I was frankly terrified, and it put me off on going to other funerals after that.
When I was ten, everyone called me an 'Old Soul' because of my maturity, and the fact that I was given many adult responsibilities at such a young age. Even at that time in my life, I had a feeling that I wouldn't live to be very old. I had visions and dreams where I received a sense of urgency about things that needed to be done, and I was always about doing the most good with whatever time I had left.
So far, those thoughts of an early demise haven't come true, but they could at any moment. I'm amazed at the wickedness of many people, who express cruelty with such abandon, and seem to have no fear of facing their creator.
So many phonies who go to church every Sunday just to be seen going to church, you know what I mean? They don't consider that one day they'll be standing in front of the creator going through a life review, where they will have to answer for their misdeeds.
I was speaking to an atheist the other day who insisted that there is no God. I told him; "If that's true, then the Universe is an incredible waste of space." It makes no sense to me that no one created all of the stars and planets out of nothing, for nobody.
After hearing accounts from nurses in my family of NDE'S (Near Death Experiences), I'm absolutely convinced that we have some kind of existence after death. Hence the need to not just "take up space" here, but to provide a real difference while on this mortal plane.
Every day I ask myself "Have you done a good deed today?" And if I haven't, its time to get to work. While no one in my close family has died yet save my grandmother, I've seen people pass all around me. Many of them living life with such vitality, and having a real positive effect on everyone they interact with.
Imagine helping someone out of a tight spot, and then passing, while your good deed lives on after you. Your assistance allows them to assist another, and so on. This creates a virtual 'living chain' of goodness and decency that will be passed down throughout the generations.
As I stood in front of that casket on that day, I remembered the life that my sisters grandmother led. How she always saw the good in people, and was always willing to lend a hand.
Like my own grandmother, she had a habit of providing food for others in need, and was in the middle of cooking up another batch when her light went out. She affected me in so many positive ways, and I do my best every single day to follow the example she set, and keep that living chain of good deeds very much alive.
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