Life is not an entitlement

I remember years ago travelling to work via a back country road where I passed a small petrol station (that's what it was called back then). Each day as I drove past, the owner was standing with his money bag over his shoulder waiting for the next car to pull in. The picture of this regular figure standing there each day made me so curious that I started to get fuel there just to get chatting to this man who was getting on in years and turned out to be a real character.

Anyhow, time went on and I moved job and no longer had to journey to that part of the country. About 5 years later I had reason to go in that direction and decided to use the back road for old times sake. As I passed the petrol station, sure enough, there he was, standing there with the bag over the shoulder waiting for the next car pull in.

It was another year before I was in that region again, but this time he wasn't there. The shutters were down and the place looked overgrown.

I thought a lot about this on the way home. I never did find out what happened, but it let me see how quickly life can change.

We don't really know what tomorrow will bring, yet we can waste a lot of time on things that really don't matter. We spend time worrying about trivial things and allow ourselves to be preoccupied with petty distractions. Yet, the most important thing is to value the here and now and seize the day we have with all of its opportunities, challenges and possibilities.