Even though we know that our time (and that of our loved ones) is temporary, we are still never ready to experience the loss of someone we enjoy. Death, especially unexpected death, always gives us pause, forces us to reexamine the truth that even fifty years is no time at all. Any day, any time, life, in the physical form, can just suddenly cease to be.

Of course the true essence of the dearly departed will live on forever, in energy, and in our loving memories, but this knowledge is never quite enough to ease the pain we feel when we realize that we will never again embrace the other; never again feel their physical form in our arms or feel their breath on our flesh.

This is why it is so important that we never leave things, undone; that we never leave our desire to say, “I Love you,” unsaid. Even though we can connect, to our departed loved ones, in prayer, meditation, memory and dreams, this knowledge does little to ease the pain of physical loss, the longing to call someone up and hear their personality playing out through their voice. We never know when the phone will ring and the caller on the other end will inform us that the opportunity to share time and space with some loved one has vanished.

Surprise death becomes an amazing gift when we use it as an opportunity to remember that each moment, in form, is precious. Such a reminder encourages us to be fully present, to embrace each new “now,” and to interrupt our tendency to live life on auto-pilot. We literally never know which day will be our last, so it is important to live life as the treasure it is. I read this quote, this morning, on Twitter and think it fairly well sums up my position: “Life is a preparation for the future; and the best preparation for the future is to live as if there were none.” -Albert Einstein

Take today to say anything you have been awaiting the right time to express. Tell those you love, how grateful you are for their presence in your life. Heal any relationship wounds, which are within your power to mend. Forgive yourself and others for anything that happened in the past. Then, if today is your last or if you have sixty more years your life experience will contain more room for greater expression and movement of the Love, which is the Truth of our Being.