Those Random Life Lessons

Life can be so funny the way it teaches you lessons thru the most random acts or even thru people you’ve never even met. I sat on my bed staring at my laptop as I read that one of my favorite comedians, Bernie Mac had passed away at only 50 years old. I never thought I’d get to the age or place in life where I’d say 50 is young, but it is.

Bernie often told the story of sitting on his mother’s lap as she was dying of cancer, and telling her that he was going to be a comedian just like Bill Cosby. He looked into his mother’s eyes, and said “I’m gonna make you laugh Mama, so that you’ll never cry again.” I couldn’t imagine having so much courage as a kid to watch my mother die and not care about myself and my pain, but only care about putting a smile on her face. That’s the beautiful thing about being young, your ability to give and love so easily.

I remember being 9 years old and counting down the days until I turned 10. I literally crossed off every single day on the calendar until I would finally be in the double digits. It was after all a big deal to be in the double digits. When I finally did turn 10, I then started counting down until I would be 13. Do you remember what it felt like to finally have “teen” at the end of your age? I was obsessed with the thought of being a teenager; there was nothing more important to me in the world. When 13 finally arrived, my parents threw me a huge birthday party as they always did (hey I’m an only child). I celebrated in a hotel suite with my closest girlfriends, we giggled about boys, whispered bad words we shouldn’t be using, and left the room repeatedly to get ice (for some reason that was entertaining). I thought being 20 years old was ancient at that time, I enjoyed every single day, and I carried a child like innocence with me well into my junior year of high school. All in all I was genuinely happy about life, and carpe diem was my motto for everything.

The sad part is I can’t remember the last time I had the carpe diem mentality. Why is that when you’re young everything seems so possible? If someone told you that one day you’d fly to the moon, you believed them. Now as an adult, everything is an important decision. The people you hang out with, the jobs you take, the places you go, or even what you wear has an effect on your everyday life. We now worry more about how we’re gonna pay the rent or the car note and less about going after what we really want, well at least I do.


I opened my email this morning and read about two great opportunities that were being offered to me and would be perfect for me on my dream career path. I quickly pressed the x button and continued eating my breakfast bar. I’m purposefully ignoring them because I can’t imagine when I would have the time or the energy to fulfill the obligations that are being asked of me. Although it’s great for me career wise, my priority is supposed to be at my 9-5 right?

Wrong. I opened the emails back up and read each one carefully, I responded to both and agreed that I would take on each task.

I learned a huge lesson from two great men this weekend; don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Thanks Bernie and Issac for the lesson.