I’ve Been Losing Sight of the Life Right in Front of Me

You Should Be Here

One of my favorite songs from the late, great D’Angelo and Raphael Saadiq is You Should Be Here.

There was something about that collaboration — at that time, at least for me — that was so spot on. The music, the overall sound of it, was an instant hit.

15 years later, it’s still relevant.

While the song itself had its own definition of what they were trying to get across, I don’t apply it that way in this instance.

When I think about that song, I think about how the good Lord is going to call us all home one day. We don’t know that hour or that time.

So until that day comes, in one way, I take it as Jesus saying: You should be here.

Here on Earth.

So while I am here, I need to live life to the fullest — and in the best way, enjoy it. One of the ways of enjoying life is by taking care of yourself: your physical health, spiritual health, and mental health.

As we all know today, your financial health too — because all those things tie into our moods, and what we want to do versus what we can do, and what we have done.

We’re all learning. Everything we’re going through is a learning experience. In that learning experience, you realize something powerful:

Since I am here — since God said you should be here — until He says otherwise, I should take care of myself.

Taking Care of the Temple

It’s so important to take care of my physical health because there’s a reason why we’re here.

If you know your purpose, you know your purpose. If you don’t, maybe the Lord will grant you time to figure that out and execute it.

Physical fitness, being in shape — is important because our bodies are temples. One of the Lord’s temples.

When the good Lord calls one of your family members home, He’s telling them, you should be here with me.

It affects the entire family.

It affects everyone left behind here on Earth.

The lesson I’ve learned is: you should be there for your family.

How can you be there for your family if you’re not here for yourself?

In that moment when the good Lord calls one of your family members home, it’s hard to be “here”. It’s hard to be centered mentally and physically.

Since you’re going through it, imagine how your other family members are feeling — going through the same grieving process.

If you’re not here, not grounded within yourself, you can fall out of tune with the family surrounding you.

If you’re not there for them — what happens to them?

We Need Each Other

We need each other more than I wanted to admit, many times in my life. Time has revealed that lesson to me.

I needed to learn that.

So I’m putting forth an effort to be there for my family, and I’m still trying to understand what “being there” means for each one of them.

I pray God gives me strength to be able to.

I can’t be there for them if I’m not here with myself.

How do I get closer to self? How do I get closer to being here with self?

I work out.

I take care of myself.

This means 25 to 30 minutes of steady-state cardio then strength training.

That’s part of taking care of my physical and my mental health too.

How much better do I feel after I work out compared to not working out at all?

I’m in a better mood. I’m a lot sharper mentally. So I can be there for others.

Be Present in the Gift of Life

Take care of yourselves.

God said — you should be here.

You should be present because that is the gift.

The gift of life.