You Never Know

My original plan was to write about my companies recent name change from Indiana Business College to Harrison College. I was and am very excited about the change and all that it represents, but I think I will hold off on that topic for a couple of weeks.

Instead, in a 48 hour period recently I received three stories of incredibly unfortunate news. First, a long time friend of mine and my brother’s learned over the weekend that his Dad has been diagnosed with lung cancer and his prognosis is not very good. Next a friend and former colleague of mine informed me that his mother has been diagnosed with leukemia. She learned of this news on the weekend of her three year anniversary from her recovery from brain cancer. Furthermore, the medicine she used to treat the brain cancer had a 1 in 1000 chance of causing leukemia. Lastly, a friend and former colleague of mine who has a son similar in age to my daughter’s, lost her husband suddenly over the weekend. I am not trying to bring everyone’s mood down with what is obviously depressing and tragic news. Instead, I am trying to encourage everyone to be aware that life is indeed far too short. It isn’t worth staying angry or frustrated over minor issues. Make time to reach out to your friends and family and value all of their nuances, even the annoying ones. Take an inventory of your life and look to revise or fix “opportunities for improvement.” We spend so much time rushing on to our next task, or working on the next project that we sometimes take things for granted. I personally am going to use my experience this past week as a wake-up call to appreciate those around me more and spend time enjoying life. I invite all of you to do the same and appreciate what you have and focus less on life’s negatives.