Where were you Tuesday morning September 11? For some us that question will be filed away in a memory bank with the others. Where were you when Kennedy was shot?  Where were you when you heard about Martin? Regan, the U.S. Embassy, Oklahoma?

I was in South Carolina conducting a training session when we heard a commotion outside the meeting room in the hallway. A participant went out to investigate and came back quickly with the news. It was eerie as we huddled around the big screen TV in the hotel bar and watched the tragic events unfold. A live picture of the second airplane hitting its target, the collapse of a building that up until then seemed impregnable. There were no outbursts or cries of anguish among the mesmerized group as we watched in horror, just muffled sobs and an occasional damn. Our brain could not accept what our wet eyes were telling us. A reporter from a Columbia newspaper asked if he could interview me but fortunately he couldn’t think of questions, as I had no answers. The next few days seemed a blur as I waited for the airport to re-open and my airline to resume operations.

Arriving home I found an email from an acquaintance that has lost his battle with the “Big C” and is simply waiting and reflecting.  He often shares with me his reflections and I usually file them away to read whenever I have time. This time, however, I took the time to read what he had sent and I was moved. I would like to share it with you.

“Today we have higher buildings and wider highways, but shorter temperaments and narrower points of view. We spend more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses, nut smaller families. We have more compromises, but less time. We have more knowledge, but less judgment. We have more medicines, but less health.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk much, we love only a little, and we hate too much. We reached the Moon and came back, but we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbors. We have conquered outer space, but not our inner space. We have higher incomes, but fewer morals. We have much more food. But less nutrition. We live in times where it takes two salaries to purchase a house, but divorce increases.  We have finer houses, but more broken homes.

My time is at end and I can only reflect but you have the time that I can only wish for. Before it is too late, I propose the following: 

Do not keep anything for a special occasion, because everyday that you live is a special occasion. Take the time to search for knowledge, read more, sit on your front porch and admire the view. Spend more time with your family and friends, eat your favorite foods, and visit the places you love. Use your fine china, silver, crystal goblets. Do not save your favorite fragrances, clothes and use them every time you feel you want to.  Remove from your vocabulary phrases like “one of these days” and “someday”. Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life. Every day, every hour, and every minute is special. You never know if it will be your last.

If you are too busy to stop and reevaluate your priorities and begin to tell your family and friends that you love them and will get around to it someday. Then you will make the same mistake as me because I have run out of someday”.

I wish you well.