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.

我的一位挚友打开了他妻子的内衣抽屉，从里面拿出来用绢纸围住的包裹。

“这样东西，他说到，它并不只是件普通的包裹。”他打开了绢纸里面的盒子然后凝视着这两样东西。

“大约八九年前，当我们第一次去纽约的时候，她买了这些东西。她从来没有穿戴过这里面的东西。她想着在特殊的场合里面再身着此服。

恩，我想，现在就是那个特殊的时刻了。”他坐在床边然后把这礼品盒放在跟那些他准备带去殡仪馆的衣服一块儿。他的妻子刚刚谢世离去了。他转过来对我说到：

“永远不要为等到某一刻再去做些自己想做的事，你活着的每一天里面其实都是那特别的‘一刻’。”

我依然回想着那句改变我一生观念的句子。如今我花更多的时间去思考然而花更少的时间去理顺那些琐事。我无忧无虑地坐在门廊前去看这大千世界。我更注重与家人呆在一起时间的断肠，避免过多地消耗在无谓的工作上面。我懂得了生活就是一种坚持自己原则的种种经历的体验而不是匆匆虚度活过。我不再保留珍藏着的所有东西。只要我喜欢，我每天都用水晶杯子去小酌。如果我高兴的话，我会穿崭新的衣服在商店里购物。我不再把昂贵的香水留到什么特殊的场合，什么时候想用就来一些。“总有那么一天”和“将来某一天”这样的字眼已经在我的人生字典中消逝。如果有什么值得我关注、倾听、付出的话，我立刻就去关注、倾听、付出。

我不知道我这位挚友的妻子，如果她真知道自己将不久于人世后会做些什么，这点无人知晓。我认为她会给她的亲戚和最亲近的朋友通电话。

她也许给老友解释夕日的口角，请求对方的谅解。我也会去想她会出外去中餐馆点自己最喜爱的食物。要是换成我的话，在知道自己快撒手之前没把这些细小琐事做完的话，那肯定是要留下遗憾的。我当然会留下遗憾，因为我将不再能去看望我的那些朋友，或者跟他们通信...那些过去我曾想在“将来某一天”给他们写的信笺。我将会抱有遗憾而且心怀悲伤，因为我还没有嘱咐给自己的兄弟和儿孙，至少还没有足够的时间让我对他们表示自己对他们深厚的爱恋。

如今，我尝试着生活中不再去耽搁、拖延或者保留珍藏着任何能带来欢声笑语的东西。而且在每个日出的时刻，我对自己说这都将是美妙精彩的一天。每一天、每一小时、每一分钟都会是奇特而精彩的。