justathought

I may be a little late, but I wanted to talk today about the Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson movie, The Bucket List.  This movie dealth with the issues surrounding the way we squander time in life. 

We all believe that we can keep putting off things until tomorrow.  We never imagine that tomorrow may not exist in God’s great plan for us.  This week I have learned about one person dying and another on life support.  One person was older and the other relatively young.  One guaranteed to never see anew tomorrow, the other may never look at tomorrow the same agian if he is blessed to see it.

It made me think about the things both may have left undone in their lives and it made.  It made me think about those things that I have left undone and it made me commit to never put those things off again . . . waiting for the elusive tomorrow.  So, here is my bucket list.  It is nothing grand, but they are things I want.  Things I will strive to achieve with the time left that God has granted me:

Bucket List

• Home ownership

• Successful business that helps young people achieve success

• Travel to foreign countries

• Give my mom the moon and stars

• Bungee jump

• Learn to swim

• Jump from an airplane

• Hit it big (or go bust) in Vegas

• Write a novel

Those are just a few of the things on my list.  I am sure there are more that I have not thought about in forever.    I’ll spend more time growing this list with ideas and shortening it with action and follow through.  Tomorrow is not promised . .. . what thing would you do today if you knew today was the last day of life?

I say a play on Friday about Diabetes and its horrible effect on African Americans.  The production was held at North Carolina Central University and it was well worth the time spent watching it.  The actors were realistic and embodied the characters they portrayed but the true value of the play came from gaining the opportunity to learn about this crippling disease.

Considering the fact that 3.7 million African Americans have diabetes, it is a pretty safe bet that you know someone afflicted with the disease.  Most will have Type-2 Diabetes which is a non-insulin dependent version of the disease.  While a person with this type of diabetes does not have to take daily injections to regulate there blood sugar levels, this version is no less deadly.   Usually pre-diabetes develops before someone gets type 2 diabetes.  If pre-diabetes is taken seriously and steps are taken to control blood sugar levels, then type 2 diabetes may never develop.  To find out whether or not you are at risk for pre-diabetes, take this test.  

During the play, the main character (an overweight male over the age of 40) kept denying he had diabetes despite the diagnosis from his doctor.  He had been diagnosed with the disease more than eight years ago, and for each of those passing years he added less time to his life by continuing to disobey the doctor’s direction to take better care of his health.  He ate unhealthy foods and never exercised.  For the majority of the play, he shuffled and hobbled around because he was unable to walk normally due to nerve damage caused by the loss of circulation. 

We all must die one day . .. that is a destiny we can not avoid.  However, we can eliminate some of the causes of death that wait around the corner for us.  Preventing Type 2 diabetes is simple:

• Limit your alcohol intake
• Eat health foods
• Exercise

Those simple steps can and life to your years!