This past Saturday I made a trip to Miami to visit my aunt Rosaura. She’s 93 years old and came to the United States from Cuba the same day I was born. She is one of four children, my father being one of them. She is the only one still living.

I vividly remember my aunt when I was a kid. And here she is today at 93 years old. She’s strong, independent, lives alone and has an astounding mind and memory. But, she’s 93 and I couldn’t help but feel a flood of emotions and a sense of awareness of how short life is.

There are moments in life when you experience something that feels like someone shaking you by the shoulders and telling you to wake up. This was one of those moments for me.

I know we see social media posts all the time about how short life is, but talk is cheap. For me, it was a feeling of melancholy and asking myself, “what is getting in the way in my life? what do I need to revise? what are the things that remain on my bucket list? how can I be an even better husband to my wife and a better person to those in my life?

The answers on that Saturday sort of whispered to me. It wasn’t a long, drawn-out analysis, just an instant sort of knowing.

It was a good day. My aunt and I chatted about family memories, past experiences, and life. And then I took her out to lunch and we had a good time.

I gave her a very loooong hug before I left and she hugged me back in the same way.

People know me as the Don’t Make Age Your Cage guy, the fitness guy, the bodybuilder. But on Saturday I was just one guy on a planet full of many people who had a sense of how short this life is and how precious each moment is.

It’s yet another lesson that I want to live within me until I leave this earth.

No lecturing here, no advice. You have to experience this type of moment on your own, in your time and in your own way. They come every so often and each person’s moment is a little different, but it’s the same message.

It’s about the moments.

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