Borrowed Time
The philosophy of Stoicism introduced me to the concept of negative visualisation.
In it, you imagine something terrible happening to you or your loved one. I know how the above sentence reads. You may be asking why do you have to think about adverse events and manifest them.
I would be lying if I said I practice this concept regularly. I don't. I do, however, practise a form of it.
Every time I engage in an experience, I consciously think this could be the last time I experience this with the people I love.
Today I took my parents to a movie. When I was a child going to a movie was one of the few things we did together. As I grew and travelled to other cities for education, going to a movie became a rare event.
Amma loves movies, and Appa watches them because he doesn't know what to do with his time.
They still like going to movies, but their bodies aren't allowing them to sit in a cold dark place for a couple of hours without it becoming a nuisance.
I know I only have a handful of such movies left.
When I am reminiscing the past (in the future) and remembering my parents, I would like to have fond experiences to cherish.
Today I spent money on the recliner seats and bought a tub of popcorn for both of them. I know they loved both.
There is only so much together time I have left with them. I would be happy if it gets stretched to as many years as possible, but I know I am on borrowed time.