A friend of mine opened his wife’s underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

"This, - he said - isn’t any ordinary package." He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

"She got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on. Was saving it for a special occasion.

Well, I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothings he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died. He turned to me and said:

"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".

I still think those words changed my life. Now I read more and clean less. I sit on the porch without worrying about anything. I spend more time with my family, and less at work. I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through. I no longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day. I’ll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if i feel like it. I don’t save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to. The words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my dictionary. If it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now.

I don’t know what my friend’s wife would have done if she knew she wouldn’t be there the next morning, this nobody can tell. I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.

She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I’d like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food. It’s these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come. I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would meet, letters... letters that i wanted to write "One of this days". I would regret and feel sad, because I didn’t say to my brothers and sons, not times enough at least, how much I love them.

Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring laughter and joy into our lives. And, on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day. Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

我的一位摯友打開了他妻子的內衣抽屜，從里面拿出來用絹紙圍住的包裹。

“這樣東西，他說到，它并不只是件普通的包裹。”他打開了絹紙里面的盒子然后凝視著這兩樣東西。

“大約八九年前，當我們第一次去紐約的時候，她買了這些東西。她從來沒有穿戴過這里面的東西。她想著在特殊的場合里面再身著此服。

恩，我想，現在就是那個特殊的時刻了。”他坐在床邊然后把這禮品盒放在跟那些他準備帶去殯儀館的衣服一塊兒。他的妻子剛剛謝世離去了。他轉過來對我說到：

“永遠不要為等到某一刻再去做些自己想做的事，你活著的每一天里面其實都是那特別的‘一刻’。”

我依然回想著那句改變我一生觀念的句子。如今我花更多的時間去思考然而花更少的時間去理順那些瑣事。我無憂無慮地坐在門廊前去看這大千世界。我更注重與家人呆在一起時間的斷腸，避免過多地消耗在無謂的工作上面。我懂得了生活就是一種堅持自己原則的種種經歷的體驗而不是匆匆虛度活過。我不再保留珍藏著的所有東西。只要我喜歡，我每天都用水晶杯子去小酌。如果我高興的話，我會穿嶄新的衣服在商店里購物。我不再把昂貴的香水留到什么特殊的場合，什么時候想用就來一些。“總有那么一天”和“將來某一天”這樣的字眼已經在我的人生字典中消逝。如果有什么值得我關注、傾聽、付出的話，我立刻就去關注、傾聽、付出。

我不知道我這位摯友的妻子，如果她真知道自己將不久于人世后會做些什么，這點無人知曉。我認為她會給她的親戚和最親近的朋友通電話。

她也許給老友解釋夕日的口角，請求對方的諒解。我也會去想她會出外去中餐館點自己最喜愛的食物。要是換成我的話，在知道自己快撒手之前沒把這些細小瑣事做完的話，那肯定是要留下遺憾的。我當然會留下遺憾，因為我將不再能去看望我的那些朋友，或者跟他們通信...那些過去我曾想在“將來某一天”給他們寫的信箋。我將會抱有遺憾而且心懷悲傷，因為我還沒有囑咐給自己的兄弟和兒孫，至少還沒有足夠的時間讓我對他們表示自己對他們深厚的愛戀。

如今，我嘗試著生活中不再去耽擱、拖延或者保留珍藏著任何能帶來歡聲笑語的東西。而且在每個日出的時刻，我對自己說這都將是美妙精彩的一天。每一天、每一小時、每一分鐘都會是奇特而精彩的。