Transcript
Hello and welcome to the If We Knew Then podcast. I’m Stephen Saux.
And this isn’t your typical episode. But I believe it’s a really important one. This is a solo episode and I’m on location, I’m in the airport, making an unscheduled last minute trip back to Louisiana. My mother isn’t doing well, and I’m going there to see her for one last time, and support my dad. Life events like this really make you think really make you aware of the importance of, of experiencing every moment of your life being present for as many moments in your life as you can, because everything is fleeting, not just not just life, but all stages of life. What’s going on in the Middle East and all those horrific images and stories I see on social media. It’s made me a bit melancholy, but also appreciative. I know how unique this moment is in my life, just like every moment in my life has been and will be. And I want to truly experience now, you know, Liam as a 13 year old and Sophia as a 16 year old and Laurie and I in the roles we’re playing right now in this moment in our relationship, because it all changes. When I look back, and I can question all I want about if I really took the time to experience the moments when the kids were young, and Laurie and I were younger, in different stages of our relationship and, and with being parents. But that really doesn’t do me any good, you know. And to be truthful, that’s not living in the moment either. All I can do is be the person I want to be right now. And I can take this moment right now. Tell my kids, I love them. Tell my wife, I love her and hold my family. I’ve always heard that life can change on a dime. But really, as we all know, life is always changing. And I want to embrace change, I want to look forward to it and be excited for the adventure ahead. But I am going to make it a point to, to even more intensely more dramatically indulge in each moment of my life. Because, you know, in combination of my mother’s life coming to an end, and also what’s happening in the world, I have been a bit emotional, which is, which is good. You know, feeling emotion. dropping the kids off at school gets hard. You know, hey, I dropped them off. And I say why can’t they just stay home with us? Like, why did summer and why can’t just be summer? You know? Do we have to go to school today? These are the questions I’m having as a parent when I see all the pain in the world. The they’re really kind of the same questions I asked when I was a child. I don’t know. I mean, like, was I seeing the world differently? I guess as a child, you know, I would always say why don’t you go to school? Why summer over when you know, why can’t I just be with my family? I guess when you really innocently think about life and maybe put some of your lesser responsibilities to the side. What it all comes down to is just being with the ones you love, enjoying them enjoying, join all the time you can with them. Like I said, I’ve been emotional lately, but it’s it’s brought me to these thoughts. I’m trying to understand life and think about the beauty of life. But I guess if I really thought about life all the time, like what it really means I just would be crying all the time crying from joy because of what a wonderful gift life is and also crying from sadness, because time never stands still. And I think about this video that’s been going around on social media lately, the one that talks about what things will be like in 100 years From now, you know, is 2123. And most, if not all the adults on the planet right now won’t be here anymore. The homes that we worked so hard to get will be someone else’s home. All your possessions, all your clothes, all, all your jewelry, all your objects that you collect, it will be someone secondhand stuff. You know, the car that you’re driving, and you love, and you you keep clean or you don’t, you know, it will, it will be long gone. And in a junkyard. In 100 years, no one really will remember you. I mean, how many of us know about our great, great grandparents, I mean, it’ll just be a story or two that’s been passed down. Just that one snippet of your life that you remembered for, if you’re lucky. So we have to live life for ourselves and for our loved ones today. Today. Let me we’re also lucky to even be here to be able to experience anything to be conscious. So be grateful. And use that gratefulness to live more fully. I will. I’m going to advocate more fully. I’m going to love more fully. So like I said, this isn’t our typical episode. But I didn’t want such an emotional week to go by without sharing with you. These things I’m feeling appreciative of this community. I know it might come across a sadness, but it’s just life. Because, like I said, when you really think about life, we can shed sad tears and happy tears. Because life is all of that. It’s all the emotions. And that’s what makes it so special feeling. So join me in making the most of each moment more often. thinking deeply about each moment more often. And holding our loved ones close more often, and spreading as much love as we can while we’re here.
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