Excerpt and popular quote from Paul Bowles book "The Sheltering Sky". (1949)

Because we don't know when we will die, we begin to think of life as an inexauhstible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times. A very small number actually. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even concieve of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you see the full moon rise? Perhaps... twenty.

And yet it all seems limitless.


-This was also engraved on actor Jason Lee's tombstone. Lee was accidentally killed while filming the movie 'The Crow'.

All we have is this very moment...the past is gone; the future is not guaranteed to us.
Being aware that each day might in fact be your last makes everything much more meaningful...the color of the sky, the sound of bees buzzing, the laugh of a child.
Thanks for the thread, Moose...

Thanks for posting that, Moose. It's a good reminder.
We may never pass this way again...

You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so live, love and laugh in the moment. Life is inexaustable, so spend it all, more is coming, live, laugh, love. Don't worry or say a bus might hit you tomorrow. Why think that?
Having a Zen moment or maybe a hopeful one, not thinking about the bus, but of a cure and repair, maybe tomorrow...

"Tomorrow, tomorrow,
I love you tomorrow.
You're always a day away."

Kicker - having what she thinks is a Zen moment or maybe a hopeful one, not thinking about the bus, but a cure and repair, maybe tomorrow
The future is so bright I gotta wear sun-glasses, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... NOW. The bus might hit me the day before the cure. Ironic, isn't it?

But I'd be dead, the irony would be lost on me.

thanks Moose....been having hard time thinking of my sisters cancer...and living so far away ..that is tough...cause I want to have more time with her...

but reminder all of our lives could be shorter than we know not just her..with a few months ....I always try to remember to enjoy each moment to the best....keep worries at a minimum...as they wont mean a thing....someday...hugssss,sarah

I thought I'd try to see this post again, which would make it a second time.

Watch that butterfly when it finds a flower.

Take a minute to enjoy a hummingbird on your feeder.

Do something nice for yourself.

Do something nice for somebody else.

Get as excited to see your dog as he is to see you.

Smell that rose like you've never seen one before, really drink it in.

When you talk to your family on the phone, end the call with "I love you".

End each visit with a hug.




In my last moments, I will not be thinking, "Gee I wish I'd done more laundry."