A Deck of Cards

Yesterday at work, I was going about my business, getting ready to head out for the day, when I heard something that made me stop dead in my tracks.  An old man walked into the hospital unit, right into the room I was standing next to.  His wife was lying in the hospital bed, her last moments almost there.  He bent down next to her, took her hand and looked into her eyes.  She stared back at him and you knew she was smiling on the inside.  As he held her hand, he said, “We have had 59 beautiful years together and you will forever and always be my love”.

My heart broke for this man, however, seeing his face and hearing it in his voice; you could tell he was going to be alright.  He had 59 years of memories to pull from when he felt alone or missed his wife.  His wife stared into his eyes as though it was the first time she stared into them.  You could tell theirs was a love that was true and storied.  Hearing this man talk to his wife as she lie there, reminded me, that life really is too short and we need to never take one day for granted.  This reminds me of something that I have dubbed, “the stock problem”.  Many of us can rattle off a laundry list of things we don’t like about our life or things we wish we could change, but we never stop and make that same list for the things that we have.  That is when I tell my friends to take a step back and take “stock” of all of the good they have.  I tell them to notice their friends and family and their support systems in life.  I tell them to remember they have jobs, in a very poor economy.  They have a roof over their heads, their health, money to pay their bills, laughter with their friends and all of the potential in the world to do what they want. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am just as guilty as the next for forgetting to take stock, but when I do, I always smile.  Of course we could always have more money or a better job, but that is life and we can make the best of it, or we can do our best to change what we don’t like, but appreciate what we have in the process.  Like Randy Pausch said in “The Last Lecture, “we cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”.   

Today, take a moment to appreciate what you have in your life and remind those around you that you love them and appreciate them.