Approximately 52 million people die every year, that is 142 000 every day. An estimated 24000 people are killed by lightning strikes around the world each year…At least 100,000 people die from snake bite yearly…

I know I know, a bit of a Debbie Downer for sure, but stay with me on this, I am going somewhere good I promise.

As I and my circle of friends start to age, like a fine wine of course, something is starting to change in the people around me. Everyone seems to be “Fighting” something lately, be it the bulge or the hands of time, they are all at war. With themselves it seems. I have never heard the words “I can’t” so much as I have from people over the past couple of years. “Oh I can’t do that”, “Oh I can’t go there” “Oh I can’t eat that”…I have four children and if I ever hear them use the word “Can’t” I immediately tell them never to say the word. Strike it from your vocabulary.

I see what my circle of friends are fighting about, they are fighting to live a little longer. Plain and simple. The war and the “I cant’s” all have one sole purpose, and that is to stay a live for as long as you can. What I wonder is…with all the fighting and the “I cant’s” eating up your precious time, when are you actually living? Don’t get me wrong, I believe is staying healthy and keeping yourself as fit as you can, this all leads to a better quality of life. But again, LIFE is the key word here…It is meant to be LIVED.

This all came about at a party over the dessert table. I stood there gobsmaked listening to a friend go on for a goo 20 minutes on why she couldn’t eat the brownie. It was not because it wasn’t gluten free or she was allergic to chocolate, it was because she is “Fighting”, and her fight, at the time. was the bulge. So now you have just wasted 20 minutes of the life you are preserving rambling on about why your denying yourself a brownie…This all seems very counter productive to me.

All I could think about was the marathon runner that collapsed and died at the end of the race…After all, life’s finish line is 6 feet under. I know, again with the negative Nellie…

At this point something inside me snapped and I am sure I jumped outside my own skin when I bellowed… EAT THE FREAKIN BROWNIE…

I then snapped out of it and realized everyone in the room, at the nice civilized party, was staring at me. Again, this is why I wear nice shoes as my foot in often in my mouth. I promptly followed up with… “You just wasted 20 minutes of your life talking about why you can’t eat the brownie, 20 minutes you will never get back. If you walk outside and get hit by lightning, your going to wish you ate the freakin brownie.”

Today in your busy life of fighting father time and the “I cant’s”, just once do something for yourself …and EAT THE BROWNIE!…

Cheers