Time doesn’t stop for anyone. The trouble is we think we have so much time.

Yesterday night, while walking home with a friend, she asked if I was excited about my upcoming trip to Hong Kong. I’m going to visit my aging grandpa (along with some other family members)…those I haven’t seen in 15 years. 15 years. I lost my grandma when I was six–she was so young. I don’t have much recollection of her (I know her voice because we have old recorded tapes of phone conversations from the distant past), but my mom will always tell me how much our grandma loved my sister and me. I lost my great-grandmother in 2014. I still remember sitting outside her porch summer of 2004 in Hong Kong with my sister, mom, and cousin peeling and eating longan. In January 2018, my uncle who was only in his early 50’s passed.

That’s the thing though, time doesn’t stop or slow down for anyone. It’s easy to get caught up with stress and the mundane tasks in life, but to what extent? Our time on Earth is limited. Health is the biggest gift we can receive–something that many of us (myself included) sometimes fail to prioritize. Life is fragile and we’re not guaranteed life the next minute, week, month, or year. I count myself lucky to have the opportunity to be typing this at the moment, to have the parents, sister, and friends that I do, but I know I have much work to do in terms of proper rest and regular exercise to keep myself in tip-top shape.

Pursue that something that makes you jump out of bed in joy. Plan that trip, book your tickets, and make it happen. Go for an annual physical exam (pointing at myself right now). Tell people you love them before you lose out on that chance forever. To answer my friend’s question, yes, I cannot wait to give them some tight hugs and squeezes, cry until I laugh, laugh until I cry, and make the most of my time there.

?⁣ Wishing you health and joy,

Sylvia