essence [es-uhns]
the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing or its significant individual feature or features; the inward nature, true substance, or constitution of anything, as opposed to what is accidental, phenomenal, illusory
Synonyms include: aspect, attribute, backbone, base, being,fiber, nature, substance

A friend of ours passed away last week. Out of everything I’ve learned to accept in this life, death seems to be the hardest for me to understand. When we hear such news we tend to feel very sad, angry, bereft…and most of all, in my experience, confused. We ask for the whys and hows and often find ourselves unable to deal with more than one emotion at one time. After the mourning period has passed, and we’re forced to build acceptance, then lessons about time being of the essence begin to take place. Carpe diem – seize the day: so the mantra goes. It’s too bad we need to witness death to be able to appreciate life and time as we know it at this very second.

Midway through these fragmented thoughts, I received the following email:

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

And the last line said this:

Don't be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin.

R.I.P. J.K.F...