Why do you write like you're running out of time? Write day and night like you're running out of time? — "Non-Stop" from "Hamilton" by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Why do you write like you're running out of time? Why do we write like we're running out of time? Sometimes, we are.
Tell your family you love them today. Tell your friends they are wonderful today. Even if they drive you crazy, even if they tease you, even if they make you mad sometimes. Even if you're having a bad day and you really don't want to. Tell them how much they mean to you. Sometimes we are really running out of time, and we have no idea at all. Sometimes we mess things up and never get the chance to fix them.
Thirteen years ago, on May 9, 2003, I said goodnight to my father for the last time.
Last year, two boys I graduated from high school with died in a car accident. Half-brothers. We were the class of 2014. More of my class and the class above me have died since...
Last week, a boy who graduated a year or two before me died as well. And those of us who are left, well, it seems we are running out of time. We tell their stories and try to keep their memory alive. We wonder what they might have done, if they'd only had the time. We try to live as though we have to do great things for them, too. Far too many of us are going far too soon.
This week, I have a challenge for you all. Here at Westminster, it is finals week. This is the week when we are exhausted, our brains taxed by exams and projects and oh no I forgot that was due this week... or last week. This is the week we are stressed out. Short-tempered. Tired. Replacing sleep with caffeine and losing our collective minds as we cram for tests and scramble for extra credit.
Let's try something this week, Westminster.
Every day, let's try to take a moment to tell our friends they're fantastic. Instead of getting impatient when the wifi isn't working (although at times it's pretty hard) take a moment to thank LIS and the people behind the scenes who keep the wifi working every other day of the year. Or if that's too difficult, take the break from research to talk to someone.
Call your family. Call your mom, email your dad, text your siblings, call your grandparents, hug your friends. Tell them you love them, and tell them why you love them. Bil Keane or Alice Morse Earle (the sources are split) said, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." And what a present it is.
We usually brush that sort of thing off. After, all, we're 18 and 20 and 22-year-olds. The joke is, we think we will live forever, and there are times we act like it. But the truth is, we are running out of time. Make sure those you love know you love them because life truly is so much shorter than we think. Someday, we will wish we had had more time. Let's make the most of what we do have. Let's fill our days with love, happiness, and laughter. Or at the very least, let's try. That's my challenge for you this week. Live and love like you're running out of time.
"Friends, life is short and we have never too much time to gladden the hearts of those who make the journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, and make haste to be kind!" — Henri Frederic Amiel
