by Steve Marriott
Last month I received news that an old friend of mine had taken his own life, and like most of us, began to reminisce about the past, the good times and the laughs. Inevitably came a number of regrets…losing touch, being too busy with work, family and other commitments…
Then last week I discovered I had been an unsuspecting victim of what I can only call an extremely tasteless ‘joke’. To my very great relief and pleasure (and his too!) my friend was still very much alive and well.
Rather than dwelling upon the mindset that created those thoughts and feelings of loss and regret, I enjoyed an immense sense of relief at being given a ‘second chance’; to put things right, to live without regret at conversations unspoken and good times not relived.
“We live in a world that creates its own differences so we need to create our own connections.”
“We come together for birth and death. What happens in between is pretty much up to us.”
Mark Johnson TED Global 2009
Part of my ‘plan’ for last year was for all of my friends and family to know their importance and value to me through regular contact and quality time spent together. Something that admittedly I could still be even better at.
Given the choice, I’m sure all of us would love to spend more time showing our loved ones how much they mean to us. Well here’s the good news, the only person who makes that choice is you! Are you really too busy to tell someone how much they mean to you. Is that last disagreement more important than your friendship?
Take five minutes from your day to answer these questions:
- Who are the most valuable people in your life?
- Do they know how much they mean to you? How do you know they know?
- What have you done today to let them know how much they mean to you?
- If you had a second chance, RIGHT NOW, what would you do to make certain they knew?
Call to action
Take just one person from your list and answer those same questions again- honestly.
Do something to take advantage of your second chance
And tomorrow, do it again with the same person or someone different.
