WRITE TEAM: Take a dip, the water is fine!

“One cannot step twice in the same river.”

This sage-like quote is attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Utilizing the river as a metaphor. He is trying to convey the idea that life is constantly changing. Like the rushing waters of the above river, life is always moving forward and transforming into something else. The water we walk through today in a stream will be somewhere else the next time we walk into the same stream. Likewise, when we woke up this morning, our world is not the same one that we said goodnight to the night before.

What does this fact of life mean to us? It could mean a number of things. It could be that life is always changing and we can do nothing about it. We could interpret this fact of life in this way, but that would produce no happiness nor anything productive. On the other hand, it could be interpreted that life is always changing and we should enjoy and relish the now. This most likely will achieve a more enjoyable life and thus will be the takeaway from this quote.

A few weeks ago, I tried to convey a similar message about things passing away. I wanted to restate a similar message, but with a greater emphasis on enjoying the now and the ones around us.

Since life is changing, we must enjoy the people and things that are with us now. One of the most painful realizations one can have in their life is that they did not fully appreciate someone until they were gone. Let us do better to appreciate our loved ones. They may be gone far sooner than we would like to think.

This goes for our human loved ones and our furry loved ones. Before we realize it, our kittens and pups have become old cats and dogs. Savor the moment.

By realizing that we may not get a second chance, that we may not have time to say we love someone, do it now. The clock is ticking and there really is no time like the present. Being more self aware concerning our treatment of the ones closest to us will allow us to be better people and, when life brings certain changes, we can be warm in the fact that we showed that we cared.

So, I invite you to enjoy the present in these difficult times. Be aware of who cares for you and return to them the same level of love. The river of life keeps raging forward, take a dip now and enjoy the refreshing waters of today.

• James Durdan works on the family farm in Grand Ridge, and enjoys writing about history’s philosophers and how their enigmatic quotations relate to today’s world. He can be reached at tsloup@shawmedia.com.