Did you cherish today?

How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, “I’ve been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step—tomorrow”? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do something about them today. --President Thomas S. Monson

I love this quote by President Monson. I think about it probably every single day. Every morning, after I have typed a few reports for work, I jump on the internet and go to the obituaries. Why, you ask? I absolutely love to read the tributes to a loved one, a remembrance of their life, a celebration of their journey. There's just something so inspiring about a life well-lived. I never become desensitized to it. I oftentimes see the lives that are cut too short and shed a tear for the family as though I can feel a little bit of their grief. Sounds depressing, but really, it is inspiring. It makes me ponder my life and think "what have I done to make the world a better place? What would my loved ones write in my obituary if I were to die today? Did I do my best? Have I done enough? What more can I do? Did I love enough? Did I cherish my relationships?" I am oftentimes reminded just how fragile our lives are. It happens all too often I see somebody I knew in the past that has moved on from this earthly existence.

I also like to read the obituaries because these are the people in my community. I work for some of the hospitals in our community and sometimes I will get the reports on these people. I get to hear about the last moments of their life. I love to put a face with the name, the story, the trauma, whatever it is they went through. I love to hear about their life, their family, their stories. I get a little glimpse into this human that was once just a name on a screen being dictated on by Dr. So-and-So. It makes my job real.

"And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays."