L is for Life and Lessons and Loss

Be prepared, this one is down right serious...

Just yesterday I got some sad news. A guy I knew (I'd call him a friendly acquaintance) had collapsed and is now in ICU, with his family trying to decide if and when to pull the plug. I don't want to get into the specifics because I want to respect their privacy and because this blog post isn't about the decision of what is living and what isn't and DNRs and all the political BS that surrounds a very difficult and personal decision.

However, what I do want to talk about is the feeling one (me, you, everyone) gets when they hear this sort of news: 'life is too short, don't take anything or anyone for granted.' This is so true, yet how is it that we forget this time and again? How is it that when something like this happens it is then we are reminded to love a little deeper, forgive more often, hug the babies tighter and so on? Why is it we practice these things for a while when a tragedy surrounds us but fall back into our patterns of assuming people know how we feel? It's somewhat sad isn't it?

In meditation we practice not only quieting the voices inside our head but we practice "just being." Meaning, be in the moment with nothing else. Experience that moment for what it is. No tomorrow's no yesterday's no lists of things to do (it's soooo hard for me not to make lists when I meditate, dang Type A hardwiring!), just being in the moment. So, what if we were just in the moment all the time? What if when we saw our friends and loved ones we hugged them tighter ALL THE TIME? Forgave them often and loved them for who they are and let them know it (I repeat, let them know it, including letting yourself know it, too)? What if we didn't wait for a reminder? I'm not saying all of you wait, I'm not saying you don't do these things. All I am saying is what if we took a lesson from loss and meditation and lived in the moment a little more, loved a little more and were just there a lot more so if G-d for bid (poo poo poo, zi, zi, zi) anything happened we don't beat ourselves up for not having done so more often.

Loss teaches us a lot about life. I just hope I can put this lesson to good practice.

** For those affected by our friend's tragedy, I'm thinking of you guys and you are in my thoughts and Metta practices.