Our time is the ultimate limited resource, the most precious thing we possess. But do we truly own it? Or is it a gift, fleeting and precious, that we should savor each moment of?

Most of us, intentionally or not, ignore the reality of the ticking clock. We don’t hold ourselves accountable to that precious gift, the gift of life that we should cherish.

My friend told me a story about her grandfather. At family gatherings, he would often sit by himself, savoring a bowl of beans. Each bite was deliberate, his eyes closing as if he were experiencing the most exquisite flavors. One day, she asked him, “Papi, how come every time you take a bite of your beans, it’s like the best thing you’ve ever tasted?”

He replied, “Mija, a bowl of beans, a new sunrise, the feeling of rain on your face, the sound of laughing children… when you wake in the morning, you open your eyes and get a chance to do and be another day. The beautiful questions from my granddaughter… these are the moments, just like this bowl of beans, that I savor. I want to taste every single moment of my life. It’s the most precious thing I have.” He looked at her, “Do you understand?” “I think so,” she replied.

Someone went to sleep last night and didn’t wake up this morning. Someone kissed their family goodbye, or didn’t, and didn’t make it home. Someone unknowingly made a choice, irrational or not, without thinking about the consequence, ending the most precious gift – life.

For everything it is and is not, the trauma, the heartache, the ups and downs, perspective is everything. How we see things, how we allow ourselves to feel, determines whether life blossoms or ends as sparks of ourselves extinguish one flicker at a time.