Don't Wait

If there is something you need to do or someone to whom you need to say something, don't wait. Do it now.

This morning I learned that a friend's husband had died suddenly about two months ago. We have been acquainted about eight years, and three years ago she re-connected with a man at a high school reunion, and they married. They had been married for fourteen months, when he passed away suddenly from a heart attack while out running. Needless to say, she is devastated.

So, if you need to say something to someone, say it. If you need to do something for someone, do it. Don't put it on the list of things to do "someday." Just do it. Pick up the phone and call. Or send that email, Today!!!

And, when you get a strong thought of someone, act on it. When you think, "I ought to call ...", do it. Forget the excuses. Don't worry if it's dinnertime or the middle of the workday.

Think there might be a reason you are thinking of this person? Well, there is.

When I lived in Denver, I had a friend whose husband had died at age 30 of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Then she became engaged to a man whose wife had died of the same disease. Before they married, he was diagnosed with it. Sometimes I'd get really strong thoughts about her and call, only to learn that something bad was going on in her life.

One time I called and left a message for her. She returned the call about three months later to tell me that her second husband had died just before the time I had left the message for her. There are times when thoughts of her are quite strong, and I believe something is going on in her life that is serious, but I don't know where she lives now. She married a Wyoming professor who was getting a job as a Dean at an Illinois college, so I think she is somewhere in Illinois, but I don't know where.

Has it been a while since you hugged someone in your family? Or since you told your spouse or a family member or a friend that you loved her (or him)? Do it now.

So, what I'm saying is, Act. Do something, whether it's a phone call, a letter, a card... do something. And don't put it off until tomorrow.