Friday, June 16, 2017

One Little Accident Can Change Everything

It's true what they say.  "Life happens while you're busy making plans".  You can plan all you want but you really can't plan for the future because sh*t happens and one small thing can change the course of a person's life forever, or even for a little while.

A few days ago, my elderly father in law slipped out in the streets and fell, breaking his shoulder in two places.  He had plans to go to the movies this weekend and, of course, plans for living his daily life and going on with his daily routines before the accident.  Now he can't even leave the house.

I won't go into the specifics or even go on a rant about the public insurance issues and the fact that he has to wait weeks before he can have surgery to fix his broken shoulder.  I can't even get into all of that in this one little blog.  But it's just ironic to think that something so simple and accidental as a fall can change so much.  In a matter of minutes, my father in law's whole day and seemingly perfect ordinary future had changed.  All the little plans he had went out the window the day he fell.

We have to value life for what it is, fragile and precious.  We cannot take it for granted like we do time and again.  While it's nice to have plans, the future is not set in stone nor promised.  Even the most well laid plans can go wrong.  But not having any plans at all can leave one in a precarious situation.  It can be beneficial to have plans for the future.

For example, my father in law, like I said, is elderly.  That means he should have his financial business in order by now.  When you reach a certain age, we all know it's just smart to start getting things prepared for that day when, well, you no longer reside on this earth.  He should have all that squared away with a lawyer of some sort so that if an accident happens, things can be taken care of swiftly without outside involvement.

After he fell, and could have possibly been hurt worse than a broken shoulder, that got him to thinking.  Who will take over his finances when he is gone?  What about all his assets?  What happens to those when he can no longer be in charge?  He did not plan on falling and breaking his shoulder and being rendered essentially useless.  Nor did he have any plans for his actual future as far as his finances are concerned.

Making plans that can change is one thing, making smart plans that are necessary is another.  Life is short.  We only get a number of years on this earth, less than a 100 in most cases.  And life isn't lived, really lived, until you're old enough to make your own decisions.  We have to take life by the horns and live it.  Live for today because tomorrow is certainly not promised, not to any of us.  And since we cannot predict what the future holds, it's folly to try and plan it out down to each passing minute.  Planning smart to secure your future and that of your offspring is necessary, but you must live life and soak up every minute life it's your last because you never know what can happen and it just might be.

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