Cherish moments spent with near and dear ones

Cherish, a song sung by Kool & The Gang in 1984, is an all-time favourite. Besides the superb voice, it’s the words that resonate with me. “Cherish the love we have. We should cherish the life we live”. This chorus for me is the essence of life. When we cherish something, we love it, value it and nourish it. We seem to know a lot, but still need constant reminders.

What reminded me of this song was when my father was admitted in hospital last week in emergency. Full credit to the doctors for their quick action and best treatment. But having been a patient myself and in hospitals for many months, I know for a fact that besides good medical facilities, we need the love and care of our close ones. Bless each and every one who was there with him. With all the loving care and prayers, he is now on the road to recovery.

This made me think how fortunate we are to have people who love us, care about our wellbeing and keep us in their prayers. We should cherish that. In this part of the world, the family ties are strong and this keeps us going especially in tough times. It’s like a ready oxygen cylinder with us, we can draw fresh oxygen as and when the levels dip.

Time is the most precious gift that we could give someone, we have heard this so many times. But we live in a world where materialistic items are so important in our lives and we succumb to the pressures that society brings upon us. We rely so much on the possessions in our home, be it the paintings, the show pieces, the crystal and marble rather than the people that walk through it. Our family and our friends are the true treasures we should give our time to.

It is natural to get too involved in our day-to-day life, but right now reflect and ask yourself what are you living for? My answer for that is very clear. I live for the moments and memories I am able to make with my family and friends. We need to cherish each and every minute with our loved ones. Spend as much time with those who matter most to you and hold on to them. We may think we have grown and that we do not need anyone but I believe that is not true. My family and my friends are my anchor. They are the thread that holds me together.

Let’s think about the happiest moments in our lives. Most of those would be time spent with our family and friends. The best way to strengthen love and relationships is by spending as much time as possible with the precious people in your life. The best thing about these special memories is that they never fade away; no matter how much time passes, or whether those precious people are no longer here, you will always be able to close your eyes and go straight back to those beautiful moments. These memories have the ability to transport us instantly to another world whenever we need a little boost. Our instant dose of dopamine, so shouldn’t we proceed to make more of such beautiful memories and treasure the ones we have.

It amazes me that how people with a bad memory (where are my keys, specs, mobile etc) have an instant recall button of the lovely times that they have spent in their childhood with their family and friends. They can remember incidents to the minutest details. We cling to our memories (that too without realising it or making any effort). That’s the reason souvenir shops do such good business, because people buy things to keep beautiful memories woven around that piece.

Life is a roller coaster ride and we all experience difficult moments in our lives, but these are always made easier by having loving friends and family members around us during tough times. Having been a patient, I know how good and reassuring it feels just knowing someone that you love is standing beside you, lending their strength and helping you to fight your battles.

I have given many interviews and in each one there is a mention of the coffee date with my father at 11 am every day during my illness of 2 ½ years. A cup so special, that besides caffeine I got everything else I needed to recover. That cup of coffee will always be so special for me, this was almost 2 decades ago, but just thinking about it brings a huge smile to my face even now.

So, lets cherish our life, our health, our family and our friends. These are the things that money cannot buy and these are actually our true wealth.

Shilpa Bhasin Mehra is a legal consultant based in Dubai

• Dubai