The Night Before Surgery

To all my friends and family
And even those six degrees separated
I need you to hear me out
So even if it's boring, listen up
No matter what happens in my journey
You need to live like it never happened
And Live like every day is your last

Remember the moments in your life
Cherish the time you spend together
Laugh
Cry
Laugh until you cry
Make Mistakes
Fall in love...more than once
Don't have regrets
Stop over analyzing ways you could have made something better
Accept you did your best
And if you didn't do your best, do it over again...but not the same way

You see, not all experiences allow you a second glance, a new perspective
So live it this way the first time.
Give more to others without expecting something back
Don't change for others; be extraordinary
Eat lots of food and make sure they are all your favorites
Pick up a new hobby, try knitting...who cares!?

Don't judge others
Listen more than you talk (a task I am still trying to master)
Spend your money to the last dollar because you can't take it with you anyway
Take LOTS of pictures to forever capture the memories
Drive...drive fast....but drive safely
Do something daring...like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane
Travel to foreign places
Love and care for animals
Sleep with your baby blanket as an adult (remember, don't judge)

Play in the rain and watch a lightning storm (not necessarily at the same time)
Work really hard, but do it because it makes you happy
Not because it makes you money
Volunteer your time for anything
Go to church, get saved
Listen to music, all kinds...and LOUDLY
Dance in your car
Sing in the shower (the acoustics in my shower always made me sound better anyway)
Cradle a new born baby
Learn something new every day

Cherish every breath because you don't know when it will be your last
Live with your best girl friend for at least a year and drink lots of wine
Take a girls trip to New York...or California...or Key West
Go camping in the woods, and in the mountains
Try surfing
Join a sport team with your Dad
Go to concerts with your sister and buy her shirts so she will remember the night forever
Share a glass of wine and childhood memories with your Mom
Watch stupid YouTube videos with your friends

Forgive others...and then, forgive yourself
Be lazy
Cuddle on the couch with your significant other
Don't leave the house or hang up the phone without saying I love you
Don't assume that they just know...say it!

Look at the stars, then go to a remote place where it is pitch black on the side of a mountain and look at the stars again
Say Thank you...and mean it
Be Humble
Accept help
Pray

It's all these things, and so much more, that cross my mind before a big surgery like this. The scary part isn't the surgery, it's the unknown.  But what I do know and what I will forever live by is this:

If God brought me to it, then He will bring me through it.

Goodnight and God Bless!! See you on the other side (of surgery you crazy people...)