The Last Lecture

I’ve viewed this video a number of times in the past few months but recently a friend sent it to me again and this time I had a chance to really watch and listen to it — this time without rose-coloured glasses. It’s amazing to me how many of us live life knowing that things could be better if…. or that tomorrow is another day… We continuously push off tomorrow what we could have been done today. We say we live life with integrity but we knowingly prioritize the lesser important things and justify that these are merely a means to an end — and end that involves the only thing that really matters: family. Life is passing us by so quickly, and as I have come to experience, those around me continue to be confronted by the reality of their own mortality. My kids continue to grow and I realize that I have been absent through the little milestones they have achieved. When did Nate become so articulate in his explanation of a cool hockey play? When did my little girl become such a philosopher? Why wasn’t I there when they had problems with the class bully? In the past while I’ve been reminded over and over ever so subtley about my priorities. I used to work late into the night when the kids were asleep and from time to time I would hear, Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle”. Sometimes I would stop to listen, feeling the guilt rush through me. Other times I would say to myself, “Thank God that isn’t me”. But it was..and still is. And it’s time to confront that inner beast and change before it’s too late.