A few weeks ago, I came home and there was a beautiful vase of roses sitting on my porch with a delightful note from an admirer. I took them inside and put them on the table. Within a few days, they started to show signs of drooping, so, I cut the stems, changed out the water and they perked up for another few days. Then they withered—petals began dropping off and falling to the table. And they were gone. All I had left was the memory of their existence.
Nothing in life remains the same. You, my friend, will have an experience that is amazing, brilliant, heart-breaking, death-defying or just unbelievably fun. Like my vase of flowers, that experience will stay fresh and vibrant in your mind for days, weeks or even months. And, then, no matter how life-changing and beautiful it was, that story will start to droop, whither and drop its petals. Before long, it will be nothing more than a distant memory—its vibrancy lost to time.
Don’t let your stories wither before you have captured them somewhere—a journal, video, blog or even on social media. There is wisdom in your stories, a profound sense of what it means to be alive and experience the world. Those stories could impact your future self, help your children, uplift friends or be a blessing to a stranger. You never know how your life will touch others.
So, the next time you have an experience that strikes you hard, think of that vase of roses sitting on the porch. You don’t have long before they wither away and can never be brought back.
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