Treat people as if it's your last encounter

Jeanie watched her relative, Amanda, struggle to breathe in the hospital. She had just talked to her on the phone a couple days ago. Why had she failed to show Amanda how special she was before now?

"It may be too late," Jeanie thought.

Amanda often was quite sick. She always recovered, but this time was different. She had taken a turn for the worse.

Jeanie wished she had been more attentive to her in the past. She may never get another chance to show her how much she was loved.

Amanda looked so small lying in the hospital bed. Her face was covered with a breathing mask and a long tube. She looked like a deep-sea diver.

"Oh, please, get well, just one more time," Jeanie prayed. Amanda lived alone now, and she needed people to visit her and take her places so she could still feel like a part of life. Jeanie vowed if Amanda made it through this bout of illness, she would take the time to pay more attention to her.

We have a tendency to take people for granted. When you look into their faces, it's as if they have always been there, and you can't imagine the time when they won't be.

"I'll visit them tomorrow," you say to yourself. "They'll still be there." But they may not.

As I write this, Amanda still is struggling. She has pneumonia and is gathering fluid on her lungs. Amanda prays she will recover. The medical prognosis is positive.

As Jeanie sat in the waiting room, at the hospital, she glanced toward a table and discovered a book of poetry. A poem by James Joseph Huesgen leapt up at her.

"A word not spoken" stared at her. The poem awakened her to what is real.

It said:

"Be kind to one another, for life is so short.

"Be loving and thoughtful, Have a good heart.

"Never end the day when you're of a bad mind:

"Be close to each other. Be thankful and kind.

"Remember the good things, the fine younger years;

"Recall of the past the grace of your peers.

"You will never be sorry you said the good word;

"there's nothing sadder than, a word not spoken -- the word not heard."

What you say and do for another brings its own rewards. Don't wait too long. Do you make excuses for not visiting someone? Perhaps you say you're too busy. You'll go tomorrow.

You call to see how they're doing. Jeanie had called Amanda a couple days before she was hospitalized, and she was coughing only a little.

"Why didn't I take Amanda shopping or to a movie?" Jeanie scolded.

What you do and do not accomplish is mostly up to you. Everyone has choices. You decide what is more important at that moment.

You may feel showing someone you love and cherish them is important. But giving up your time when you think you can complete the task another time is at odds with that desire.

"I'm tired," you say. "I'll visit another time." Then you go to a movie or another recreational event. That doesn't mean the person you felt you needed to see wasn't important, but you chose to commit to something else more pleasurable. What you choose can tell you something about what is truly worthwhile to you.

Rather than beating yourself up over your weaknesses, step back and meditate on your actions. Do they match your feelings? Most of all, remember to treat every moment you spend with another as if it may be your last.