I came across this story a while back, i think it has a very valuable meaning to it..

My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. "This," he said, "is not a slip. This is lingerie." He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip. It was exquisite; silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace. The price tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it.

She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion." He took the slip from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me.

"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."

I remembered those words through the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California from the Midwestern town where my sister's family lives. I thought about all the things that she hadn't seen or heard or done. I thought about the things that she had done without realizing that they were special.

I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my life. I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to savor, not endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.

I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event-such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the first camellia blossom. I wear my good blazer to the market if I feel like it.

My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries without wincing. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that function as well as my party-going friends'.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I'm not sure what my sister would have done had she known that she wouldn't be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would have called family members and a few close friends.

She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles.

I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food. I'm guessing-I'll never know.

It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew that my hours were limited. Angry because I put off seeing good Friends whom I was going to get in touch with-someday. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write-one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.

I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special.

Every day, every minute, every breath truly is... a gift from God.

My greatest ever achievement in my life is fighting  overcome my stammer. My stammer was prety bad growing up, i didnt know what it felt like to have a normal conversation with people without getting stuck on my words. I used to envy people who could speak properly. I joined the McGuire Programme in 2004 which has not only improved my speech but has also changed my outlook on life. I no longer hayte myself, and i no longer care about what people think of me... If i was to live my life again i would say no to having a stammer but ive learned that it is a part of me and it has made me the person that i am today..  This is a newspaper article that was published in my local newspaper last year..

BRAVE YOUNG WOMAN WHO CONQUERED HER STAMMER WANTS TO HELP OTHERS By JANE MULLINS

SANDRA Kelly can still remember the feelings of dread inside on her first day of secondary school.
She has a stammer and dreaded being called, like the other pupils, to stand up and say her name.
"I prayed the bell would ring just in time to save me from standing up. I think it took me three minutes to say my name that day. I remember the nasty comments from the girls in the hallway, the giggling at the back of the classroom when I had no choice but to read aloud. The little bit of confidence that I had in myself was taken away from me."
Sandra actually left school early, within weeks of sitting her Leaving Certificate, because she couldn't face taking her oral exams.
Now the confident 22-year-old has turned her life around and has even stood on a soapbox on Grafton Street to talk about the Mcguire Programme, which has given her the skills to control her stammer.
Sandra, who lives in Mount Carmel, Newbridge, now loves going to the pub and ordering a drink and isn't afraid to answer the phone. She has conquered her stammer, having been inspired by others she met on the programme and has now gone on to train as a coach so she can help others.
Now Sandra wants others to know about the programme that literally changed her life around. She is taking a FAS course and building her confidence and qualifications.
Sandra said she had a bad stammer and the difficulty worsened during her teenage years. "Nobody understood how big an effect that my stammer had on me. I would not answer my phone, I would not talk to my friends in public." She envied her fellow pupils in the Holy Family Secondary School who took part in musicals, wishing she could join in. "I remember self-hate, the embarrassment, the various cruel ways I punished myself in the hope that my stammer would disappear. I rebelled against everything in school. My stammer was affecting everything in my life."
Her life dramatically changed with the Maguire Programme. Sandra explains it is not speech therapy or a cure for stammering. "It teachs you how to 'coastal breathe' while you speak. There are four three-day intensive courses in Ireland each year run by people who stammer. For a joining fee of €1,000 graduates are free to attend as many courses as they wish."
"I have seen the fantastic results, the new students including myself, who were not able to say their name on the first day and three days later are able to stand up and address a street full of people." Sandra completed her first course this time last year and is now proud to be a primary coach. "It has been hard work but the improvement in my speech is amazing. I don't avoid answering the phone. I now jump at the chance of any speaking opportunity. I have confidence in myself that I never thought I would have. I am proud of the person I have become and I have accepted myself as a recovering stammerer, working hard at speech."
Sandra said she no longer cares what people think and she holds her head high. "Every day I do something to make myself feel proud, even if it is just a simple thing like going into McDonald's and ordering a Big Mac as opposed to chicken nuggets that I always ordered in the past, but never really wanted."
She has been inspired by those she has met on the five courses she has taken. "I never put myself down anymore or never let other people put me down either," added Sandra.