My heartfelt condolences go out to RD's family. I did not know the man behind the posts, but always got a kick out of his input.
I was at a funeral and wake last week, and had a lot of time to reflect on life and death. It is a difficult, yet somehow sublime, thing when you can see a life in its entirety.
It is a wake-up call for most of us, because we really blast through most days without taking time to live in the moment. I have had some extreme "in-the-moment" times since my son was born. I had one experience in the last year that was so amazing and I woke my mind up and deliberately made myself aware and in the moment... it was just sharing some time with my son, who was 22 months old... we were playing on the beach and as we were leaving, he was in my arms and I turned around and we looked back over the beach and he said "Nice beach!" since "nice" was his first adjective, then he put his hand to his mouth and blew kisses and said goodbye to the beach with his eyes wide and mouth wide open in a grin as the wind blew his hair back. Just the look on his face... and to share in his pure joy at just being there... It was the most beautiful experience of my life. We picked up my wife from work, my son fell asleep in the back seat and I cried for at least an hour as I was driving home.
So, I agree with the other posters: don't take anything for granted and try to live in the moment as much as possible. Truly enlightened people, like monks, live more "in the moment" than not, but we are the reverse of them. Try to enjoy every experience, even when you are having a tough day. Just enjoy the chance to fight through a difficult situation.