Time Waits for Nothing

Time waits for nothing and everything is gonna take it’s time.
Musiq-“Time”


Greetings folks. As I sit here awake at my desk typing this post it is a little after 3:00 a.m. Why am I up? Same question I’m asking. Whatever the reason, I am, and because I am I wanted to make the most of this time.

As of late I’ve been harping on my Facebook and Twitter accounts about the finiteness of life and all the things life has to offer. I’ve had intentions of following behind it and writing a post, however, I just could never find the time. In some respects the 140-420 characters in which my messages were encapsulated were enough. At least that’s what I told myself to justify not sitting down at my laptop and doing what I needed to do. The fact of the matter is, is that they weren’t enough characters and I had a lot more to say.

I was very involved in church with my family at a young age. Being so involved in the church with my family, and my parents later becoming ministers, I attended a lot of funerals. However, I’ve been fortunate enough in life not to be touched very close by death as most of the funerals I’ve attended have been for extended relatives and church members. I can only think of a few that really “touched me.” My death of both my grandmothers, one earlier this year, and the passing of my high school English teacher Ms. Ann Howard is another one that immediately comes to mind. To a small degree, my familiarity with death has created calluses for me about the subject. When I’m required to speak about the subject with friends and family I notice that I speak much more matter of fact than most. Not speaking about it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, it just means you’re ducking the inevitable.

There are two inevitable things in life, death and taxes. As such, it’s imperative that we prepare for what we know is coming. However, often times, especially in the African-American and Latino communities, this is a taboo subject. We don’t want to talk about it, plan for it, or even acknowledge its existence until there’s a body in the morgue. I get it. Death is difficult to deal with and most people turn and run as far away and as fast as they can from the difficult things in life. However, our aversion about the topic of death is detrimental to our families.

I’ll use my family for example. I’m very open about death with my family. I told them if I die before them to bury me in a pine box, try not to shed too many tears and keep the rest of the insurance money to go on vacation or buy a new car. They ignored me and looked at me like I was crazy. I was ignored for planning for something we all know is going to come. Grant it, I’d rather my parents not have to bury me. I saw my grandmother bury 3 of her children and was one of the hardest things to watch, let alone for her to endure. So I don’t wish that on my parents. However, in the event that they have to, I don’t want my finances, burial and last wishes to be things that they are encumbered with.

Death is a tough thing to deal with and it’s exacerbated when the person who passes away is a significant contributor to the household, they don’t have life insurance, or if their idea of a filing system is a stack of papers in a box in the attic. Who’s left to sift through the mess and try to figure it all out, their family? I’ve been there, done that too many times, and I don’t want my family to have to deal with the same problems with me.

Let me make this abundantly clear, I’m not having ideas about suicide and there have been no “mountaintop visions” that my time on this planet is nearing its end. I’ve just decided to be more rational about the subject. My name is Clinton Mitchell and one day I’m going to die. There I said it; got it out there and now I’m good. You should do the same and after you do, go get a life insurance policy, sit down, discuss with your family about what to do in the case of your death and write it down so in case anyone forgets (and for legal purposes) it’s there.

Another thing death should encourage us to do is appreciate our loved ones. As you get older so does everyone and everything around you. It’s unrealistic to think that your parents will always be around. And let’s be honest, do you really want your parents to be around forever, nagging you about your clothes, your cooking, not visiting enough, or turning the television up too loud for them? Seriously speaking, people have the habit of putting their family and friends on the backburner when things get busy at work, at home, and as we grow up. But as I mentioned earlier, as we grow up and so do our family and friends and it’s imperative that we spend as much time as we can cherishing the things about them that we love so much about them; the things that we’ll miss the most when they’re no longer around.

To my family and friends reading this, I love you. I know I don’t always tell you but hopefully you know. Just in case you didn’t know, the punches to the abdomen are in love. The fights about dinner are because I love you (and because I’m hungry and don’t think it should take 2 hours to decide what we’re eating). To those of you reading this who I don’t share DNA or regular conversations with, I love you too. Thanks for taking time out of your busy lives to read my post. Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!