Borrowed Time

We have all heard the expression, "You are living on borrowed time." Of course, this means to go on living after a time in your life that should have killed you. The phrase actually goes back to the 17th century.

When I was a child I thought that life was infinite. It made perfect sense to me that I, and everyone I knew and loved, would live forever. When I was a teen I was taught that toughest of lessons that we all must learn. When I was a teenager, a child at an institute I worked at for severely disabled children passed away. My paternal grandparents passed away when I was a child but I was too young to understand it and my memories of them are few and far between. In fact, I don't remember my father's mother at all. I'd had friends who'd lost grandparents but death hadn't directly impacted me. When that child I worked with passed away I realized once and for all that there was nothing infinite about life.

When I was 20 I nearly died for the first time. If I had waited one more day to get to the doctor and have emergency surgery, the raging infection within my knee would have been fatal. When I was 25 I stood on death's doorstep again after suffering an arterial hemorrhage from my leg. When I was 27 an accidental overdose, a mistake in the hospital pharmacy sent me to the ICU. Every single infection that I've ever fought has had the opportunity to kill me. I am the very definition of someone living on borrowed time, which is a scary thing to realize. How many times can one beat the reaper before they no longer can? These are not thoughts that I often ponder but now and then they creep through. Yes, I am and have been living on borrowed time for quite awhile now...but so have you.

Life is not infinite as I once believed as a child. Life is very much finite. Life can be over before we even know it. We're all on borrowed time so seize the day. Tell your family that you love them every day. Impart pearls of wisdom to the kids in your life so that they are well prepared for their journey ahead should anything ever happen to you. Try not to raise your voice in anger too often and never raise your hand in anger no matter the situation. Allow people to have their opinions without letting it bother you. It has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with them so it's not worth getting worked up about. Always give everything you do your absolute best. If you want to do something do it. Don't put it off for another day. That day may never come.

We're all living on borrowed time. Life is finite. Remember that. Embrace that. If I have learned nothing else in this fight for my life, it is to live as it tomorrow will not come because one day... it won't.