What REALLY matters – an introspective

It all started with Ed McMahon on June 23rd. Two days later we lost Farrah Fawcett and the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. And now I come to find out that famous pitchman Billy Mays is gone too? What’s happening? What’s going on? I mean, death is a natural and inevitable part of the human condition, but (to site popular vernacular) WTF?!

I don’t know if this is a byproduct of age (I’m turning 26 in a few days) and the natural development of a sense of ones own mortality or if it’s the instantaneous nature of our news distribution or both but it feels like life has become that much more fragile to me. More precious, and as such, more deserving of my everything, my 150%. That’s not to say that I haven’t given my life as much as I could have – I have. I’ve loved, I’ve cried and I’ve laughed. But I’ve also hurt, I’ve lied, I’ve misled and I’ve missed out.

It would be easy to blame my missteps on circumstance or immaturity or ignorance or anyone else. It would be much harder and much more genuine to blame it on myself – these are the choices that I’ve made and here is where I am today. At this point in time, if my lungs stopped drawing breath and my heart stopped nourishing my body, this is my legacy…. I can do better. I can love harder, I can laugh louder, I can dance longer, I can be honest and I can lead instead of mislead. I can be a better son, a better friend and a better boyfriend. It’s never too late to be better, its never too late to give my all, to give my everything.