Motivational Leadership Speaker, Bestselling Oprah Author

Here is the bad news I have gotten in the last three weeks: Two of my friends have died — one was 48 and one was 63. Two friends lost their mothers. One friend (whose husband just died of cancer a year ago) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy and was told she needed more surgery because they didn’t get it all. One friend is in such despair that I am worried she will harm herself. Another continues to linger in a nursing home, unable to care for himself at all. My cousin has prostate cancer and my uncle was almost killed in a wreck when his car slid out on black ice.

I’m not even 50 yet, and I fear this kind of bad news is going to pile up even higher as I get older.

So, this is what I think: I’d better party now. I’d better get on my bike, ride out the the beach, drink in some sunlight and laugh really hard. I’d better call up my friends and get together this week. And next week. And the one after. I’d better enjoy every minute I have with my mother (who is in the end stages of Alzheimer’s) and my incredible father. I’d better get up early to have more time in my day and watch every sunset to remember its glory. I’d better pray. And count my blessings. I’d better live every single magnificent moment that I have.

For those of you who find yourself worrying about money and the tough times facing our nation, just look at that list of difficulties that my friends are experiencing. I feel pretty confident you wouldn’t want to change places with any of them, so their suffering really gives us perspective on what matters. It is life. It is health. It is one another.

These may be tough times, but it really is a beautiful day. Let’s live it large.

Fawn Germer is the best-selling author of four books and speaks to corporations and organizations about courageous and creative leadership strategies.