If you wake up tomorrow...

I woke up again this morning.

You did too. (Yes you did, I thought it through: You read therefore you am.)

This is an incredible thing, waking up every day. It's a cosmic mulligan – a daily do-over or, if you really rang the bell the day before, it's a hey-you-get-to-do-it-again-ya-lucky-bastard! Either way, the chance to start each day anew is a miracle. Sadly, it's one we take almost entirely for granted. (Unless you count all those inspirational instagram quotes which are set in a fun font and superimposed over sunrise photos. P.S. Don't count those.) 

Whether we appreciate it or not, waking up every day is gift.

Now I have to admit... Exactly How we wake up in the morning I have no idea. I suspect a blend of physiological whatnot, science things, etc. 

Why we wake up in the morning? There are days I'm not too sure about this one either. But I'm working on it. We all are.

Which brings us to If we wake up in the morning. This is where things get real. Extremely real. Because the fact of the matter is this: While we wake up most days, there's also a day we don't. 

And so it is that one horribly sad morning, after receiving some horribly sad news, you'll find yourself going through your email inbox like I did this morning. You'll be searching for messages from a friend you haven't spoken to in a while. You'll find your most recent exchange, which isn't as recent as you'd like it to be. And you'll see, with a heavy heart, that it concludes: "Next time you're coming through town, let's grab some beers or sushi or whatever." 

And that will be that.

There will also come a morning when a friend of yours will be going through their inbox, searching for messages from you. And they'll find the most recent exchange, which probably won't be as recent as they would like it to be. And with a heavy heart they'll read your sign-off – the one about grabbing some beers or sushi or whatever.

And that, too, will be that. 

We wake up most days. But there's also a day we don't.

My point isn't to add rain to an already dreary afternoon. My point is this: Tomorrow if/when you wake up... hug the day.

Hug everybody and everything. Hug your family. Hug your friends. Hug who you are and who you think you can be. Hug the dawn and your dog and your dickhead neighbor. Hug first runs and toe-side turns. Hug the sea and the smell of oranges. Hug your favorite song. Hug that spreadsheet with the goddamn H column that won't reconcile properly. Hug fresh air and fresh snow and fresh fish. Hug Walden. Hug Zoolander. Hug being awake and aware and alive for one more day.

Tomorrow, if you wake up, hug what you love.

My friend Dinn. Blue Steel in the Wyoming foothills. October 27th, 2011.