Feels Like the Last Time

I shower daily. From the days I worked for Uncle Dale farming in eastern Colorado, the routine was borne out of necessity and carried over into my normal way of life. I've been of the belief that showering every day is virtually required to maintain personal hygiene and good hair. It is only as I have grown older that I am beginning to realize what a luxury this habit of mine is, that for years I have taken for granted something that a great number of my brothers and sisters on this planet cannot even fathom. I am using this example because it illustrates how my attitude toward my mortality can elevate this thing I have done so casually to the level of what I now consider sacred. I do not know how I as an individual could make a daily shower possible for every person on Earth, but I alone can choose to think of each cleansing as possibly the last. There is no guarantee that I will shower tomorrow, and that realization transforms each time under the shower head into a miracle of sorts. Knowing and accepting that I am mortal becomes a source of genuine gratitude for the moment, thankfulness that is not dependent upon anything more or less than acknowledging that this and every moment of life is precious. I think the world could become a truly better place if each of us treated every experience as if it were our last.