“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain” – Roy Batty (Blade Runner)
Today is a gift.
Of course, we’ve heard this well-worn cliché many times but how many of us really live our lives giving thanks for what the day brings?
How many of us live our days with gratitude in our hearts?
Not too many of us.
Instead we rush around. Busy has become an almost constant companion. We have overfilled diaries. We over commit ourselves. We over promise and under deliver. We have shorter fuses than we should with those that matter most to us. We lose sight of what matters most, often at the expense of the trivial.
Depending on your beliefs, our lives are but fleeting moments in time. We have a temporary part to play.
There are few guarantees in this life. Ironically perhaps, impermanence is one of the only permanents.
Facing up to the idea that we have a temporary place in this world should be reason enough to apply a degree of clarity, purpose and gratitude to our days. What does this mean in practice?
We should be making time for the people that matter most to us. Telling and showing them how much we care.
We should be making time for ourselves. Making time to dream out loud.
We should be celebrating the sun rising on a new day, full of potential opportunity.
We should be focusing our energy on the positive, leaving behind idle gossip, toxic emotions and destructive behaviour.
We should be giving thanks for what we do have, not obsessing over what we may be missing.
We should be celebrating the small wonders that each and every day can bring. Embracing the present moment, rather than always wishing ahead.
These are fleeting and precious moments in time. Just like tears in the rain, they will be gone all too soon. Let’s make the most of them.
Notes:
- This is a riff on an earlier piece on Tiny Buddha.
- Like many of you reading this no doubt, Roy Batty’s magical and haunting speech in Blade Runner always gives me pause for thought (and brings a lump to my throat) – truly an epic cinematic moment.