Only Once
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 12:24PM I received a text and picture yesterday that shocked the heck out of me.
Here is MY new motorcycle!!!!
This was from my sister Diane who lives in New Mexico with her family. Diane is older than me but we were always close. I am lucky that I am close with all 3 of my sisters but Diane and I, although 4 years apart, always used to play together.
As a little kid I was tall for my age and Diane was the kid who held the sign in class pictures. In fact, when I was in 1st grade and she was in 6th, we were the same height.
We would rock at Wheel Barrow races with my arms and her fast hands. We would climb trees, play roller derby (kids don’t try this at home), and of course occasionally fight.
One thing that I have always looked to Diane for is guidance and advice. She never pulls punches and sometimes that can be tough if she tells you what you need to hear, but do not want to. Diane is the one who before she goes on any vacation, has an itinerary planned, sight seeing marked out on a map, and knows every thing there is to know before she goes anywhere.
Diane called me soon after she sent out this picture and told me all about the purchase. Her husband, my brother in law, had always wanted a Harley and when they moved out to New Mexico he was able to get one (it's behind her bike in the picture above). It was awesome for one of his dreams to come true.
He met a friend at work who also had a Harley and they became great friends. Both have families that they are very close too so hanging out together made a lot of sense.
Just recently my sister, BIL, and their friends decided to start a chapter of a biker club in there neck of the woods. When she told me this I thought it would be perfect. She can totally help run anything with her attention to detail and her planning talent. She would be great at helping lead something like that.
But that’s the thing. Diane is a planner. A person who can tell you how to get something done when you need to. Methodical. Thorough.
When we spoke on the phone she said that this bike was a deal. That she could not pass it up.
“You know I wanted to get a Harley eventually. But you know what? You only live once. I am not going to wait until I’m 60 to have a Harley I want one now! So we did it.”
I was so proud of her to do something so spontaneous. It is good to do this sort of thing now and then I think.
How often do we wait for stuff or wait to do things we want to do? Life is short and not guaranteed. And as awful as it is, we have some strikes against us just having diabetes let alone other problems that come along with it. Do we keep on waiting for some day to live or do we start living now? You only live once and I don’t want to wait until some day in the future to starting really living.
You don’t have to buy a Hog to “live” but we all have that thing we want to do. Learn to crochet, go on a vacation to a place you have always wanted to go, try taking an acting class, or even starting a family. But sometimes it is easy to say you are not ready or it can wait.
Don’t wait. Live. Now.
You only live once.
Reader Comments (2)
Amen, bro! That's exactly what I said when I decided to get my tattoo. I'm only going to have the chance to be young and live once -go for it. I have other goals too, but those will be filled in time. (motherhood, for example)
Diabetes should never stop you from living.
Well said brother. I am signing up for crochet lessons tomorrow. ;-p
Seriously though, you (and your sister), are very right.