We sometimes take our love ones for granted, and we expect that they will be with us forever.

Yday when i met up with Aten, he told me that his pet dog, which is like a member of the family, passed away of heart attack. The day after the "funeral", his mother was so affected that she had a fall and fractured both her wrists. The whole chain of events actually shifted Aten's perspective and view of his life.

Aten is a workaholic. He works non-stop and has his mind on work most of the time. The sudden death of the "family member" and the mishap of his mother made him see how very little time he is spending with his family. And made him see the importance of his family and how sudden and unpredictable life can end and can be. He found tat he has been too selfish and too much of a workaholic, so much so that family and life in general may slip by without him realising it. Always, he has been telling himself tat he works hard to earn more money, and he earns more money for the sake of his family. Now he suddenly stops and realise tat, hey, actually his family don't need tat much money. They are comfortable! The basics needs being comfortably satisfied, now all they need is simply time to spend together, to sit down and have a meal etc. He has taken little little things for granted. Like his mother cooking everyday, washing the laundry, doing the housework.. suddenly his mum is unable to do all these and he realise how many things she does everyday and how precious she is to him.

Aten is subtly changing his lifestyle now to spend more time and focus on his family. Shouldnt we all? How many of us have simply taken our love ones for granted, thinking they will be around forever?

Why the fuss over a deceased dog u may ask. The point is, it could be ur love one, family or close fren.

It happened to me before. A dear uncle of mine passed away and it was too late to regret not spending enough time with him and auntie. Now i try to keep my auntie company whenever she requests it or when i'm free.

Cherish the time u have now with ur family and love ones.

hox18