Living before goodbye feels like reaching out to the people I love while they can still respond, hugging them as if the distance between us is growing, and listening intently,
Living before goodbye could ask me, if I knew someone at this table wouldn’t be here a year from now, would I still be so easily distracted, irritated, and half-present,
Living before goodbye tells me, I can honor their existence now, not just in eulogies and posts, but by showing up fully while their eyes can still meet mine…
No more later stares at my unfinished dreams, my unwritten words, my unspoken apologies, and gently asks why I keep acting like I have an endless supply of chances,
But no more later also asks, how many more days will I file the most important parts of my life under “eventually,” knowing one diagnosis could erase the entire future column,
And no more later tells me, I can move one tiny step today, even if I am scared, so that my life is not built only from intentions that never arrived…
Today is more than enough when I let this ordinary sunlight, this cloudy sky, this simple conversation with someone I care about be worthy of my full attention,
But today alone is enough to make me question if this ordinary day is my final one, would I still rush through it like a checklist, or would I slow down enough to truly savor my life,
And today is more than enough that tells me, I can treat simple routines as final gifts, not because I am doomed, but because they are already irreplaceable as they are…
Being ready without knowing looks like clearing the air often, saying “I need you” now, forgiving sooner, and leaving less of my truth locked behind pride and ego,
But being ready without knowing asks, if I walked out the door and never came back, what pieces of my honesty and tenderness would I wish I had already been delivered,
And being ready without knowing tells me, I can shape a life where each day holds enough completion that if it was the last, it would still feel like a whole story, not just a draft of your life…
• I can live awake before the diagnosis ever appears
• I can retire “later” as my main life plan
• Ordinary days can become my favorite miracles
• Readiness is built from small daily completions
• I can live so that endings find me less afraid
