Reason #3498 why I love living in Chicago is that there is Caribou Coffee here.

Yes, I know–there are Caribou Coffees pretty much everywhere but there wasn’t one where I grew up and when I would visit friends in the Detroit area, I would beg them to go get a Light White Berry with me so I totally enjoy being able to get a $4 coffee now whenever I want.

Chicago’s temperature hit 73 degrees today, which is obviously deserving of an iced coffee.  I am the clumsiest person on the planet so I was in need of a napkin in case anything was spilled.  When I went to get one, I grabbed what I thought was a napkin that had been written on.  There was writing on it, albeit engineered by the Caribou thinktank most likely, and it was titled “Life’s Too Short For:” and then had a list.

“Life’s Too Short For: Grudges, fake anything, putting profits before people, crabby people, over-roasted coffe and waiting for change to happen.”

Spot on, right?  Every day, there are a million little (or big) things that jar us into remembering what life is too short for.  We might not always be fully present to notice them but they’re there.  For me, life’s too short to not be real with the people I love and the things in our lives that are important to us.  For me, life’s too short for every single person I love not to know it.  For me, life is to short not to belly laugh.  Or to notice giggly babies or dogs that are so freakin’ happy to be out on a walk.  And life is definitely too short for me to wear shoes that hurt my feet.

I’m grateful that it was a silly napkin from an overpriced coffee factory that reminded me of these things today but when events happen that make it all too clear what life is too short for, I thank God that I have a family and friends to weather those storms with.

Life is too short for _______ (fill in the blank).