When I die, I will never regret spending too much time with my daughter.
I say this because in the busyness of life, I often feel like I have more important things to do:
- There are projects to work on
- TV shows to watch
- Video games to play
- Dishes to wash
- Plants to water
- Empty gas tanks to fill
- Money to earn
- Tasks to complete
The list of possible activities is endless.
But in the end when I die, I realize I will never regret spending too much time with my daughter.
Being a parent emphasizes our mortality in a tangible way that is new, humbling and powerful.
We are all going to die one day. A truly democratizing factor in our existence. Death and taxes as the saying goes.
Impending death then becomes a constraint that helps to put the rest of my life in perspective. Not in a somber or macabre way, but rather in a realistic way. Because we must all choose and prioritize what to focus our energy on with our limited time on this Earth.
Yes there are always a million things to do, especially in the age of connectivity and always online state that we live in. There is an endless pipeline of Netflix original content being released. There are tweets to check, photos to post to Instagram, Facebook friends to message and emails to respond to (yes I am aware I am showing my age by not including Snapchat).
When I die though, I won't be able to bring any of these things with me. At least that’s what I believe. And with that in mind and the limited resource of time more clearly in perspective than ever before, it becomes clear that spending time with loved ones is always a good use of time.
It is a sad thought that one day I will have to say goodbye to my daughter. Utterly sad. Devastatingly so. But the sadness helps reinforce my deep love for her and serves as a strong reminder that our time together is finite, therefore make the most of it, be present, be grateful and savor it while it is here.