Live Each Day As If It’s Your Last

Today, the dad of one very close friend passed on due to Coronavirus. After a year of trying to keep up with the new normal, I broke down. The virus has hit too close to home. It breaks my heart that I’m not able to physically comfort my friend; and as the Covid cases pile up to almost 10,000 a day, I can’t shake off the morbid thought that it can affect anyone close to me. Unfortunately, all I can do at this point is continue to pray and hope that we will come out of this pandemic alive and well.

As if Covid was not enough to slap me with anxiety, a few weeks ago my husband had a procedure for coronary artery disease; 2 of my high school batchmates passed on less than 2 weeks apart due to critical illness; a few days later, 1 close relative also lost her life; then I noticed how my social media timeline is full of people losing their love ones. If that doesn’t make you question your mortality, I don’t know what will.

The news of my friend’s dad’s passing reminded me that I haven’t hugged or kissed my parents since last year even when they’re just there. The thought suddenly pierced me with sadness. It made me question how many moments do I have left with my family, with my friends, with the world. I’ve been trying to take things one step at a time, but with every step I take, a sliver of time vanishes. The quarantine makes me feel as if time has been escaping behind me like an invisible current being sucked into an invisible vortex. The now will become the past in an instant and I can’t take back lost opportunities to seize moments with people I care for.

It is heartbreaking how the ephemerality of life unfolds before my eyes. The saying “live each day as if it’s your last” just holds so much truth and meaning now.