If you are wondering where I have been, I have been writing – LOTS. Some in Ormond By-The-Sea, FL some in a little town called Pomona Park, FL – where time stands still. It’s been wonderful but it’s also good to be back. Back home, back blogging. SO …

Happy Valentine’s Day. Hold your valentine tight. Tell her you love her. Buy him a massage. Better yet give him one. Take a couples massage class. Write her a poem. Cherish this day and EVERY one after. There are NO guarantees. By my mid thirties, I lost a childhood and life long best friend to tragic deaths. My first best friend to die was a guy named Hal Bates. Hal lived across the street from us when I lived in Northwest Florida in the early to mid 1970’s. We played almost every day after school. When my family and I moved to Daytona Beach, Hal and I lost touch but I was still very saddened to hear several years later that he was tragically killed while drinking and driving. In a twist of fate, his younger brother was killed on the same stretch of highway almost a year later – also while drinking and driving. My best friend throughout high school and until my middle 30’s life was also cut short. Bill Walter developed stage five of melanoma which took his life at the age of thirty-six in 1998. College friend Vicki was killed in an automobile accident at age 29, a church friend Michael, died of cancer before he turned forty. My new AWESOME coworker, Kathy, lost her husband when he was hit by a motorist while cycling at age 46.

Having been close to these experiences, I have a great appreciation for life and the precious nature of it. I am richer because of these experiences that for the most part, were painful and difficult.

Though I may say I have had lots of tragedy, I have also had lots of good fortunate. I had the great pleasure of knowing and learning from both set of my grandparents well into my adult life. All of my immediate family or cousins or relatives by marriage are all in good health. Between my wife and me and our large extended families, there have been no unexpected family deaths or divorces (one day I added up that just among our parents and four sibling each were almost 300 years of marriage). I have known both the good about life and the bad. And I am better for experiencing both.

The reality is, that some of you reading this no doubt know, life can be tough but it can also be rich. We all get thrown unexpected curve balls for which we can never be prepared. We also get blessings we sometimes don’t recognize. We only have a guarantee for today:  Tomorrow is uncertain.

We have to live today and every day like there is no tomorrow. Valentine’s Day just might the day to do that!

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.