It’s funny how we have to be reminded of our mortality.  Every once in a while, we get a slap in our complacency.  You’d think hearing about those people going through physical pain or problems would remind us well enough.  You’d think having friends dealing with cancer or chronic arthritis would be enough to remind us.  It’s easy to shuck all that off as outside us, as their problem.  Well it’s a problem for all of us, but we shy away from those thoughts for good reason.  It’s easy to get caught up in negativity about our lives and see only the bad things.

I recently had a great fall. Literally, I had an accident that if filmed may have gone viral. Just walking down an elevated path, I misplaced my foot and one thing lead to another.  Gravity took hold.  Nine contusions, a sore chest, and a head slap to the concrete later, I was struggling to move due to the pain. What’s funny is that I was going outside to pick up the dog crap.  I got up and went about my business after removing one patch of skin from my palm.  I thought it was getting better a day later after my wife was giving me a hard time about being a klutz.  I was thinking I was just bruised up.  Then I sneezed and some of the worst pain I’ve experienced ensued.  It was then I knew I broke a rib.  A day later in urgent care the doctor confirmed what I already knew.  Now, I get to be reminded about my mortality with every breath for the next six to eight weeks.

The thing is, we live on the edge of mortality all the time.  We go about our business not giving it a second thought.  However, if we did allow ourselves to think about it a little without plunging into the depths of negativity, we can learn to value each moment we have.  Every breath we take can be another exchange in the balance of life and death.  Knowing we have an end albeit of an unknown time, puts things in perspective.  It allows us to plan out what we want to do with our time and energy.  It helps us manage our daily business to carry out what we decide to.  We can learn until the end of our days to experience that much more of what this life has to offer.  Then again, having a kick in our complacency can help us to manager our business better.