Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Miracle of Everyday

Yesterday, I ran into a friend who had a heart attack two weeks ago. He had been eating in a restaurant when he lost consciousness. Thanks to the quick action of another customer who knew CPR, she saved his life by keeping oxygen flowing to his brain until paramedics arrived. When I saw him, he was smiling and pointed to his waistline which had shrunk a little in the past couple weeks. He was also profiled on a local television news story as he gave thanks to the customer and the paramedics that saved his life. He did not have health insurance and was understandably concerned about all of his medical bills. But, he was grateful to be standing next to me.

I woke up early this morning to the sound of a hooting owl and birds chirping in the trees nearby. As I laid in bed, half-awake, I was comforted and appreciative to hear their beautiful music. At that moment, it struck me how precious life was. Most of us, myself included, live our lives with giant to-do lists and the expectation that tomorrow we can finish the things we can't get to today. Seeing my friend, I was reminded that there are no guarantees.


To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle. Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.

-Walt Whitman

There are only two ways to live your life. One is though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

-Albert Einstein

3 comments:

Lance said...

Hi Tim,
It's so easy to take life for granted. and sometimes what we need is a wake-up call to remind us of how precious life is. I had a co-worker die last month in a motorcycle accident, at a very young age. And this too served as a wake up call for me - that what I have is NOW. And what am I doing with that? Hopefully I can hold onto that feeling of how miraculous life is...
So, thank you for keeping that going here. And it's good to hear your friend is okay.

And I love the quotes you've included - they fit so well...

Tim said...

Lance:

Thank you for your words of encouragement. I am sorry to hear about your co-worker...It is yet another reminder about the preciousness of life.

Kim of Kim and Jason said...

Hi Tim,

I'm with Lance... great post! We all need to be reminded of how short life is. It's scary when those reminders hit so close to home. Every moment we're blessed with is definitely a miracle.