Some songs pack a lot of emotion into few words. Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever” is one of those songs. I can’t help but cry every time I hear it. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that Mercury died five years after he recorded the song. Or perhaps it’s knowing that we only have this one life to live and we should make the best of it while we can. Do we choose to love someone who we would sacrifice for, or do we choose to “settle” for a life that is easy and comfortable, but absent of any real passion?

Do we choose to follow our dreams or abandon them out of fear of failure? Do we forgive others for their mistakes or do we punish them out of our own need to be right or prove a point? Do we see that everyone around us is just as flawed as we are? Do we acknowledge our own flaws, and by acknowledging them, become a better person?

Do we see that some people are more damaged than we are and need more understanding and compassion than others? Do we hold it against others that their mental illness causes them to say and do things that the rest of us wouldn’t?

Do we hold onto hurt and grudges or let the negative energy go? Do we choose to live with anger or do we expel it from our souls so that we can make room for love and forgiveness?

“This world has only one sweet moment
Set aside for us”

What do we do with that moment? Will our decisions from the past always color our present and future? Will our mistakes follow us to the grave? If we forgive ourselves, how do we get others to do the same? How do we break the emotional chains that fuel our demons and neuroses? We can’t live in the moment if we are always chained to our past. We can’t appreciate the moment if all we see is disappointment and hurt and anger.

If we only have this one moment, this one life, wouldn’t we rather have it filled with love and joy?

“Forever is our today”

When your moment is gone, will you have regrets about the decisions you made and words you used?