Only One

I dont know if you remember my friend Herb. I meet him randomly while doing jury duty the other day. You remember the 89 year old man? I had to return for traffic school a couple Mondays ago, and while sitting, I saw Herb again. Not thinking he would remember me, I went up and asked if it really was him. He immediately smiled, recited my name perfectly, and by the end of the day I had his phone number and a promise that I would call and bring him a pie. Herb. What a cute man.

I have been thinking about Herb today and this quote that he liked to recite to large audiences. It was from his grandfather, and if only you could see Herb say it. His voice boomed at certain points, grew soft at certain points, you could just tell he loved the eyes on him and would have been a great actor.

I cant recite it perfectly. I just remember it being about a clock, and how you never know when it will stop. "Not the hour, not the day..." It said something about living your life now, because tomorrow, "the clock might stand still.."

We only have one life. This is our one. This is our chance to make things happen, to make the most of this little life we have. We come down to this earth expected to make the best choices for ourselves, and you never know when the time is up. For some it might be 20, for others 56, for others 95. But we just have this one.

This life is about learning and growing and stretching our minds to reach new heights. Its about trying new things, things that might scare you, things that might make you uncomfortable, things that might bring you joy, but its just about trying. You cant sit just sit around. This is your only one.

I personally am just excited to have the chance to try at all. I'm so grateful for this one little life I lead, because to me, this is a perfect life. This life might be full of joys and sorrows and tears and disappointments, but it is mine. I am excited to love my life, whatever it brings me in the future. I'm excited to fail. I'm excited for the moments of growth and wisdom. I'm excited for the big things, those big scarey things that we dream about but yet when they come you never know how to approach them. I'm just excited to live a life I love, a life I can look back on and smile. I'm excited for Rob too, and all the opportunities he will face. I'm excited for him to live a life he loves. Because at the end of the day, this life is all about those little moments, whether they be the moments where you laughed so hard you cried, or those moments when you couldnt stop crying. This life is about the times you were scared to death, but yet you did it anyways. Life is just a mixture of  all those little moments, all pilled up on top of each other, making a life we are hopefully proud of. But its your life. This is your only one, so try and make it the best, because then it just ends. From one moment to the next it could just be over, that clock could just stop. This is your one. This is your time. Now is the time to try as hard as you can with this little life you lead.

I just hope that when I look back at my life I can see the times I failed, or cried, or laughed, or was just plain uncomfortable every once in awhile. I hope I can see that I tried, that I tried really hard, because this was my only one.