My daughter’s of an age (10) where, whenever her hand absentmindedly slips into mine, my heart skips a beat.
Because I know that there will be a last time when that happens.
So I cherish every one.
It’s easy to see in obvious situations like this, but this ‘last time’ malarkey is happening all the time… while we’re busy planning tomorrow, making out like the life we’re experiencing now, is just an obstacle to overcome.
Like riding huge days in the mountains, quite possibly my all time favourite pastime. I definitely took that one for granted… my mind always half on planning the next exploit, barely before the current one was done.
But we have no idea what we will or won’t get to do.
In that case I got injured, and for 15 years, what with one thing or another, it really looked like I’d never go back; that I’d missed the full appreciation of my ‘last time’ of doing that (an event that completely passed me by at the time, as I rode along, planning the next day’s ride).
🤦🏻♂️
Now, I’m extremely grateful that I did make my way back to the mountains, but I definitely don’t take that stuff for granted any more. (I’m 51, I get injuries all the time!)
It’s narrowed my focus to what’s happening now. By and large I’ve stopped putting my actions into a bigger story, for instance: