The world we live in is one that is ever changing from day to day, week to week, month to month and season to season. There is neither a pause button to hold time still nor a rewind to re-experience amazing things or to go back to a time just before your world was turned upside down. No one knows what the future truly holds, even when that future is sometimes only moments ahead. With the blink of an eye, everything before you can change and you find yourself face-to-face with things you thought were further down the road.
Not knowing what is to come can bring a sense of mystery to life while at the same time produce the unexpected, which could be one of two things: good or bad. It is because of this blind walk into the future that we must live in and cherish each moment down to the seconds. They always say that you should take time to stop and smell the roses. Wel,l you should take time to stop and smell them, admire them and take note to always remember how they made you feel there in that single moment. The glory of taking time to do this is that when a storm comes and washes that rose away, you are left with the memory when you need a little sunshine on a rainy day. The same goes for people that you encounter throughout your life. Take time to enjoy them in that moment, because that moment continues to live on even when they may not.
Words are one of the most powerful tools that mankind has the ability to use. We are able to not only express it, but tell someone when we are angry, upset, happ, or confused. It is because the power of words is so great that we must opt to not only choose, but to also use the right ones at every moment we are given to do so. When you are sad, it is more than OK to let that be known because sometimes others may never know unless you tell them. When something or someone makes you happy, let them know in that moment because you never know when or even if the opportunity will come again for you to tell them. Most importantly, if you love them, let them know. Love is one of the greatest emotions shared between individuals. It doesn't always have to be said to be felt, but saying it makes knowing it a thousand times more cherishable.
No one is promised tomorrow, so we must choose to spend our time wisely. This doesn't mean to live in fear that you will never talk to someone again each time you leave them. This just means to live with no regrets toward or against them. If someone lets you down don't always think it was intentional. Maybe they were just doing the best that they could. Don't always be so quick to hold grudges against people, because in the end you are holding no one back but yourself. Know that even though words are powerful, sometimes words are not always needed to create some of the most special moments you could ever cherish. Sometimes in the silence of two people, love is shared and expressed louder than anything else. So what do you do when you find that your "...see you Wednesday" never comes? All that you can do is trust and believe that they knew how much you cared, that the good times outweighed the bad, and know that that last 'I love you' said this all in one sentence.
--For my dad, Joseph H. Cousins, Sr. Sept. 24, 1941-July 10, 2016
