I had a very, very smart friend. After graduating with a PhD in Physics from a top university, she became a business person and quickly climbed the corporate ladder. She was witty, funny, kind, multilingual, she had a husband who adored her and 3 adorable children. She was an avid and competent skier. One day, she was skiing back to her condo when a slab of snow fell from the roof of her building, instantly killing her. That is right, one of the greatest geniuses I know, a top skier, died in front of her resort condo, crushed to death by snow. The absurdity of her death will remain with me until my last day.
The reason I wanted to write this blog entry is that this accident was a terrible, yet important lesson that today is all I have. I may plan, foresee, avoid, predict, but today is all I have. I may remember, revisit, regret, but today is all I have. I had the unfortunate “chance” of suddenly losing my father at a young age, and the fact that everything can stop at any time was always on my radar. This allowed me to say yes to life opportunities that I thought may not come back, take risks and lead a life that was out of the track, saying yes even when I was scared, and no only when my inner voice told me to stay away from people (who turned out to be shady). It takes courage to say yes and go somewhere totally different that what we had planned, and it also take a lot of courage to say no when only our deepest self agrees with the decision.
Try to live your life as if today was your last day. Say yes to opportunities and to people. Use good judgement. Be kind, apologize when you make a mistake and move on. If something feels wrong, it probably is, trust yourself. If indeed your life is cut short, you will have no regrets. If, as it is most likely, you have a long life, not only will you have no regrets, but you will thrive and be amazed by what life has in store for you.