I heard the news just like everyone else did, the terrible news of the shooting of so many little people at the school in the states.

I was planning to write a post this week
about the panic around the “end of the world” concept December 21st.  It was going to be lighthearted, kind of funny, but also facing the subject about how, if the world ends next week, I am at least glad that we have made the decisions we have in the last 6 months and are living a life we love now.  There is no regret in our life today, no sadness, no stress, no anger. We are, for the first time in many, many years, loving all parts of our life. It was going to have a funny top 10 list . .  something catchy.

With the stream of comments today about “hug your children tightly” it has made me re-think what I want to share with you.

I got a text from a friend who said she spent the day in tears at work, just waiting to come home to her kids. She was surprised at the realization that so much of her happiness comes from her children.  She said she needs to make a change . . . life is too short and life is too unstable.

I am deeply saddened, as we all are, and disgusted as well, by what happened today, but I hope, hope, hope that it will instill in everyone a deeper understand of what their base need and love in life is.

Yes, what, above everything else, can you not live without? What do you spend your days missing, when it isn’t there? If it was your last day, what kind of life do you wish you had lived?

We have so many options and choices in our life, except we keep making the safe ones, the easy ones, the fearless ones. We continue doing things that mean so little to us, just because they are at our fingertips.

I hope that when we all posted how we were going to hug our children today after learning of the loss of others children, it wasn’t a short term goal, but a step towards a lifestyle change.

We can only teach our kids how to live a fulfilled life  by living one ourselves.

We can only show our children how to be happy by facing our own demons and being truly happy ourselves.

Is your life all that you want, or are you dreaming of an escape or a different one?

If so, it’s time. It has always been time, but hopefully now you can see how fortunate you are to have the choices you have. Maybe today was a reminder of how much you love the people around you, how important they are to you.

So please, don’t just hug them today, change your life so you can appreciate them everyday. Change your life so that it IS everything you want and dream it to be.  Trust me, it is totally worth it and you won’t regret a thing.

Yes, today. Right now.