Have you ever wondered if you truly know someone? Have you ever really looked into someone’s eyes when they talk? Have you noticed how their lips curve into a smile when they hear something funny, or how their eyebrows meet in the middle when they think of something profound? Have you asked them what’s wrong when they start acting differently?
I hope your answer is yes.
See, we treat people in our everyday lives as if they’re always going to be around us all the time. We don’t tell them the things that truly matter, words that are going to make their hearts warm, comments that are going to bring sunshine to their day. We act like they’re not special to us. We refuse to give them the affection that they’re going to remember forever.
Because we have convinced ourselves that they’re not going anywhere.
But what if we’re wrong?
What if tomorrow when we wake up and open our eyes, they’re not with us anymore? What if we have hurt them so painfully that they’ve considered taking out their lives? What if we ignore them when they’re seeking for our help? What if we make them feel like we don’t care, and we’re the reason why they feel alone?
The truth is, we never know when someone’s last day on earth will be. And nobody knows what really regret feels like until it’s too late. Our apologies become irrelevant when the person we want to give it to is no longer around. Someone’s laughter and voice can quickly turn into just a memory. Someone’s presence can end up to be just a void in our hearts.
No one can exactly predict when and where someone’s going to draw their final breaths. No one’s ever prepared for endings. Not all of us are happy for endings.
We need to stop taking people for granted. We need to start showing them that they matter to us.
We have to show them our support when they’re scared, and when they’re in doubt. We have to be there for them when they need us the most, and provide them the kind of love that’s going to give them more reasons to stay in this world.
And maybe it wouldn’t hurt if we thank them for all the good deeds that they do to us. Maybe It wouldn’t kill us if we swallow our pride and apologize if we do something wrong to them, if we say something horrible to them, if we act in a way that makes them feel disrespected.
See, people can forget words and memories as time goes on, but people never forget how you make them feel. And it’s nice to leave people with something good to remember us by. Our legacies stay in peoples’ hearts. Our roles in their lives will never be forgotten. We are part of their histories; we are part of their stories.
People change every day. And there’s no better feeling than to witness them grow, evolve, and transform into a different person. It’s fulfilling to see how deep their souls are, to understand what’s on their minds, to feel what’s on their hearts. It’s amazing to find out the reasons why they smile, why they’re sad, why they feel just fine.
Maybe now is the time to stop thinking that they will always be around us. Because the fact of a matter is, we can lose people in a matter of seconds, in a blink of an eye, in a snap of fingers.
Maybe now is the time to start appreciating people while we still can, while we still see them. And never ever take our time with them for granted. Because we can’t know for sure when’s the last time that we’re going to be with them. 
