Two subjects fascinate me: time and luck.  I should probably thank cystic fibrosis for this obsession.  I don’t think a day goes by, or has gone by, when I haven’t thought about time or the luck that has helped me live so long with cystic fibrosis.

However, I repeat, however, I’m getting a little tired of hearing how you have “live in the moment,” as if today is your last day.  It’s not that I completely disagree with that thought.  I don’t.  Unfortunately, the idea can also result in exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve in making the most out of your time – you can end up wasting what you do have.

Example: When I was in my teens and early 20s I lived with the expectation that I wasn’t going to live very long so what did it matter what I did.  And, most importantly, why plan for the future?  So, I lived in the moment.  Yet something went wrong – I ended up living a lot longer than I’d planned.  I’d never even thought of what it might be like to be 30 or 40 or 50.  Probably not uncommon for that age in general, but amplified by cystic fibrosis, it was a bad way to live.

I lost most of that time when I lived in the moment and did what I wanted, watched TV, worked, worked out, went to movies.  I look back on that time and think of all the things I could have been doing had I thought I might live longer and how the future would have been so much easier had I prepared better.

No one’s fault but my own.

I ended up playing catch up and going to college later in life.  Best thing I ever did and it improved my future.  The hard work and sacrifice of “living each day like it was my last” created a more positive, lasting result.

I still think of those lost years.

Yes, enjoy each day, live each day like it’s your last.  However, keep an eye on the horizon because the future, well, it’s coming one way or another and it’s best to be prepared.