The List of Lasts

Years ago, I read a newspaper article entitled (I believe) “The List of Lasts.”   The article recently popped into my mind as I navigate a time of great transition.  I find myself in a reflective mood even as I simultaneously move forward and embrace the changes occurring in and around me . . . growing, aging, achieving, failing, wellness, illness, abundance, scarcity, etc.

I’ve searched online for the original article without success, so I’m just going to share with you through my own post what I remember to be the essence of it.

Basically, the writer spoke about how (as we move through life) we aren’t aware of experiencing something for the last time until we’re much further down the road.

Here are a few of my lasts I am remembering today and would love to experience again knowing it would (again) be my last time:

• receiving a coherent and relevant piece of advice from my mom prior to her being consumed by the fog of dementia
• hugging my father goodbye days before he died suddenly and unexpectedly
• being adoringly looked at through the youthful and exuberant (now grown up) eyes of my nieces as Super Auntie
• riding an amusement park ride with reckless abandon without fearfully wondering if I would make it safely to the end
• snuggling with my sister in her bed on a sleepless Christmas eve, looking out of her window at the brightly colored Christmas lights hanging from our house’s eaves and excitedly waiting for Christmas day to dawn
• savoring a meal without evaluating its potential impact on my health
• falling asleep in the car and waking up later cozy in my bed after being carried there by one of my parents
• taking a roll of pictures, waiting to get them back and actually feeling grateful when finding a few keepers in the stack (and tearing up or laughing at the rest!)
• excitedly waiting to greet someone as they arrive at an airport gate rather than patiently driving around in circles past a person in an orange vest with a loud, incessant whistle until I receive a call on my cell phone that they have their bags and are on their way out
• pondering a question for an unknown length of time and being satisfied with possible answers instead of instantly searching Google to satisfy my curiosity
• picking a bundle of dandelions on the way home from school and proudly presenting them to my mom
• swimming in the ocean without being certain a shark was going to attack me
• playing outside an entire summer day until my mom hung out our front door and rang the “brass school bell” to call me in for dinner

Oh my gosh, I could do this all day!  Since I have more work to do, I’ll stop for now.  I’m  certain you get the idea.  These were seemingly insignificant moments then that I long to experience and soak up with intention just once more today.

So my question for you today is:  if you knew in each moment it might be the “last” moment for that specific experience, would you treasure it more?  Given where I stand in my life today and the perspective it (and my coaches training) inherently brings, I find myself making more space in my day to contemplate the sweetness of the ordinary moments.

I invite you to share some of your “lasts” with me.  I also encourage you to bring a discerning eye to your day and enjoy the ordinary, fleeting moments you may someday long to relive.

Are you ready to thrive?

Kathie Nitz

Advertisement