Not Enough Hours in the Day to Deal with B.S.

“Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.”           -Bradley Whitford

One morning, I got a call from my father-in-law. He is a man of few words:

“Something is wrong with mom.”

“What?!!!”

“Her words are jumbled and she cannot speak fluently.”

“I am coming over, now!”

Those words have a way of striking terror in anyone.

My mother-in-law fell ill. Gravely ill. She did not have a stroke, but the doctors were unable to explain what was wrong, so the treated her for a brain infection.

Encephalitis.

She would spend a week in the hospital.

On a particular day, I was coming out of my mother-in-law’s room, going for lunch, when I ran into a former student’s father. His father (the student’s grandfather) had also fallen ill and had been at the hospital for quite some time:

“How’s it going?”

“Good…considering…”

“Yeah. It has been rough all around, huh?”

“Yup.”

“How are the kids?”

“Cool. Organized chaos as usual.”

Sternly: “Enjoy it.”

At this point I was puzzled.

“Look, you will always have time for golf when you’re old. The country club will be there. Enjoy your kids now.”

I cannot tell you what the rest of the conversation was, because the look on his face when he said that statement had a profound effect on me…

I can still see it.

He was right.

The shameful thing is, up until that point I had not put things into perspective. I have been “chasing skinny rabbits,” if you will. My mother-in-law was vibrant, funny lady one moment; a day later, we don’t know if we should be calling the priest.

Life is something we should not take for granted. We are not sure what tomorrow will bring us; that’s what makes it awesome. And that is why from now on, I will spend my days in positivity.

I will take a shit-ton of pictures.

I will not worry about money (I do invest in retirement).

I will slap my wife on the ass often.

I will embarrass the shit out of my kids.

I will never miss a first day.

I will always give my opinion.

I will not lie*

I will exercise every day.

I will curse (it makes me feel better).

I will start to check off items my bucket list.

I will belly laugh at least 10 times a day.

I will be the best father to my children.

I will be the best father to other children.

I will not complain unless I have a call to action that involves me taking action.

I will be selfish for one hour every day.

I will (try) not to be embarrassed.

I will get rid of negativity.

I will draw often.

*subjective, of course.