Every day really is our last

(Before you read any farther down the page, please take a moment to watch the brief video clip above.)

*****

Incredible, right?

Now imagine you are on the foul line. No time left. Down a bucket. No one else on the floor with you, but hundreds of eyes focused intently on your next act as a human being.

Swish.

Swish.

Swish.

Incredible, right?

I’ve talked to several people since Emma Ruhlman drilled those three shots last weekend, and they all had the same reaction: “I wouldn’t want to be in that situation.” Yet Emma was. And she was aware that she had to sink at least two of those shots to keep playing the game she loves.

And as you just saw, Emma drained three of the most clutch free throws in Warren High’s history, and her team is moving on to the PIAA playoffs. Alive for at least one more game.

Now imagine the opposing bench. Those young ladies worked just as hard during the season, maybe even harder — we don’t know. And with a District 10 championship on the line, all they could do was watch.

The future was out of their control.

Just like that, a season ends.

Just like that, a career ends for the team’s four seniors.

Never again will they run onto the court wearing the uniform of Slippery Rock High School.

“The end of the game is hard to stomach,” Rockets coach Amber Osborn said. “Hard way for those four seniors to go out. My heart goes out to them. They left a very special mark on our program.”

The Last Time. It happens every day for you and me. We just don’t realize it.

“Though it happens sooner or more abruptly for some than for others, for each and every activity in which we engage there is surely a ‘last time.’ There will be a last time I get to play tennis, which has been a supreme gift in my life. If I walk out on the court and have the frame of reference that this could be the last time, I am so much more engaged in the time and energy I am investing. If it’s windy or cold, if I’m not playing well, if there are things that would ordinarily frustrate me, they all disappear in the face of this time being, possibly — The Last Time.

“There will be a last time I will be able to sprint in my workouts, which I love to do. There will be a last time I will take an adventure vacation with my three sons. There will be a last time I will share a Christmas or Thanksgiving with my mother, who is 96.

“We rarely know when the last time will happen. It is recognizable in retrospect, if at all. But simply reflecting on The Last Time changes everything. It drives urgency to the present. It makes everything in the now more precious.”

— From “The Only Way To Win” by Jim Loehr

Now imagine this scenario. You and your significant other are vacationing in Hawaii. It’s early on a Saturday morning. You’re lounging on the balcony of your hotel, enjoying breakfast and the majestic view of the Pacific Ocean.

You’ve never been more relaxed. You discuss how this dream trip has changed you. It’s given you a new perspective. Life will be so different when you return home.

Suddenly, phones begin ringing. Text messages start pinging. TV and radio stations interrupt regular programming.

“ALERT! ALERT! MISSILE INCOMING. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

Wherever you are right now, pause for a moment and think about receiving that text.

How would you feel? 

What would be running through your mind?

WHO would be running through your mind?

At 8:07am on January 13, 2018, those frightening thoughts became a reality for millions of residents and visitors in Hawaii. A ballistic missile alert was accidentally issued by the state and reached countless cell phones at the same time.

There would be no tomorrow. Not even that afternoon.

Fathers were spotted lowering their kids into manholes to keep them safe. With seemingly only minutes to live, parents of adult children were forced to decide which one to call.

How do you make THAT decision?

The Last Time. It happens every day for you and me. We just don’t realize it.

“So for now,

I will miss you like I’ll never see you again,

And the next time I see you,

I will kiss you like I’ll never kiss you again,

And when I fall asleep beside you,

I will fall asleep as if I’ll never wake up again,

because I don’t know if I will.

I don’t know if I will.” — Charlotte Eriksson

March 18, 2021, will never come again.

It’s difficult to fathom, but every day is our last in some way. It’s simply the course of nature.

“No man ever steps into the same river twice,” Heraclitus once wrote. “For it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

So, what’s our takeaway from three big free throws, the aging process, an ever-changing current, and a missile scare in Hawaii?

You and I may be fortunate enough to see tomorrow, but the truth is, we will be different. Everything has an ending. Nothing stays the same.

Every day, every game, every stage, every life comes to an end.

The tiny boy you once cradled to your bosom is now 6-2 and a senior in high school.

The childhood friends you played release with under the stars are now scattered across the country, raising families of their own.

Your daily morning runs have now become occasional walks — at least when your pain isn’t too severe.

Like Emma Ruhlman, sometimes we can control the outcome. But most of the time we’re like the folks in Hawaii: We have no clue what’s coming. Or when it may hit.

So that person who popped into your mind a bit earlier?

Go ahead and make THAT call. Go ahead and write THAT note. You never know when it will be the last time.

It happens every day for you and me.

But sometimes, with a little prompting, it can lead to a beautiful new beginning.

(Tim Kolodziej is the author of this piece and founder of EnspireU.com. When he’s not behind a laptop, he can be found inside a gym helping young athletes create their own unique future — one rep at a time. Click here to connect with him by email.)