As a general rule, I try to keep this blog on post, relevant, and focused. But every now and then something so utterly unexpected happens that it jars you out of your normal routine and makes you think. Today was one of those days. Today, a friend of mine died.
I’ve been to plenty of funerals, and I’m not unaccustomed to death. This time though, I realized that the friend who passed away was my age, of my generation, and for no logical reason, he could’ve been me.
That stunning realization, which came instantly upon hearing the news, was crippling. Death is for the old, the weak, or often the foolish. But not for someone who was, in so many ways, like me. The level of invincibilty that (perceived) youth guarantees is suddenly gone. For some it takes years to vanish, and ultimately disbelief in one’s own mortality proves their undoing. Maybe that happened with my friend. There’s no way to tell.
For me though, it’s the tipping point towards doing it right, doing it better, and doing it with purpose. The it, in this case, is so many things, but it begins with paying attention to my own responsibilities to my own mortality and more importantly – my own reality.
