Learning to 'Live a Little'

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I began to think he really didn't want to talk to me and I did indeed interrupt his time there.

"Well, I'll go now and let you get back to the sun. Whatever your challenges are, I'll say a prayer for you," I told him.

As I stood up he grabbed my right hand and looking up he said, "Every day you live a little or die a little."

I sat back down next to him.

"See, you were wrong. I did learn something from you. I love it."

"I'll be leaving here in a few days. I had a scare and it really got me thinking. I looked back at this past year and thought about how much time I wasted. I thought about all the things I did that got me here and decided that it was no way to live. Every day I was dying a little. Now I want to choose to live."

"This was perfect timing for me. Over the last few days I have been made aware of more people who were dying. It made me remember my childhood days losing relatives and now I find I have gone full circle and I'm losing friends. Friends who are much too young to die," I said as I looked out the window.

"Every day you live a little or die a little. It's really a choice," he said.

We sat there together quietly for a few more minutes enjoying the sun.

On the way home I thought about what Jake had said to me. Reflecting back over the last few weeks of my own life I realized I had some changes to make.

Tomorrow? I'll live a little!