"We're out of time" A Pilot's Final Words and the Truth None of Us Can Escape

And today, I don't necessarily want to talk about what happened. I'll leave that for the news coverage.

Instead, I want to talk about something that I have not been able to get out of my mind.

And that was the audio recording taken from the pilot and the co-pilot who were on that plane.

And the thing that specifically stuck out in my mind was the last thing that I heard, spoken by, I believe, it was the co-pilot, we're out of time. A simple statement, a statement of desperation, a statement of realizing we're out of time.

My friend, today, I don't want to make this too somber, too doom and gloom, but instead, I want to inspire you to start looking at life a little bit differently.

And not just the big things of life, but the everyday actions we take. Because whether we want to admit it or not, we're all out of time.

Life can end in the blink of an eye.

We all know, we say it, life can change in an instant.

And this is just another example of how quickly that is true.

So today, my friend, I'm gonna take you on a quick little jaunt through what's been running through my mind in hopes that it can hopefully make an impact on you.

So my friend, this is episode 471 of Grit, Grace and Inspiration.

K-Lowe Music: We're out of time

Kevin Lowe: Without a doubt, my heart has been broken when the news broke of that plane crash.

The more that we learned, the worse that it got because it was no longer just a random plane crash.

It was a family, it was people.

And then of course, when the audio was released of the recording from the cockpit, hearing the desperation in the voice of the co-pilot, it made it all too real.

And of course, as I said, the thing that I wanna talk about today, spoken, we're out of time before tragically crashing back into the earth.

The reason this hit me so hard is because the reality is true is that we're all running out of time.

None of us know what tomorrow will hold.

None of us know when it's gonna be the last time that we wake up. When is it gonna be the last time that we walk out our front door? When is it gonna be the last time that we say I love you to our family?

And the thing is, is that you think about it, we almost have been trained to live our lives as though tomorrow is guaranteed.

We make plans for next weekend.

We make vacation plans for years in advance.

We tell somebody, I'll call you tomorrow.

I'll see you later.

How many times have you told your grandmother?

Yeah, I'll be by to visit soon, grandma.

And then you never show up.

No, instead you put it off because you keep thinking, ah, it's something I need to do.

I need to get by to see that friend.

I need to make that phone call.

But we just put it off because life is busy, because we get occupied with other things. Or is it because we think that tomorrow is guaranteed?

So what I want us to begin to think about, how do we begin to live our lives differently if tomorrow isn't guaranteed?

If we truly remember that this moment this day could honestly be the last. Because what if tomorrow doesn't come?

What would you have wished you had done today?

What would you wish you had done differently?

And the thing is this family who was on this plane, they were just taking a trip, taking a flight. I don't know anything about them, but I'm gonna say they've maybe done this before.

But it doesn't have to be something as extravagant as flying on a plane.

It can be a Tuesday morning on your way to work.

It's a stop at the grocery store on your way home.

Or a scenario I know all too well.

It's just an ordinary Saturday morning sitting at the barbershop getting your hair cut.

That last scenario, that was me.

I've told you about it here on the podcast before.

At the beginning of this year, it was a normal ordinary Saturday. I was just getting my hair cut, my beard trimmed.

When all of a sudden everything in my life started to end.

I passed out without warning.

By the time I woke up, I was laid back in the chair.

Place filled with firemen and EMTs.

Everybody trying to save my life, to get me back.

I say this as an example, that just in the blink of an eye, our entire lives can change.

So again, it doesn't take a newsworthy story for us to understand that we're all running out of time.

And again, how I want this to be applicable for you, is how will you begin to live your life differently?

How are you gonna show up differently?

How is your next phone call gonna be different with the understanding that we're all running out of time?

And one of the biggest things that I think I keep coming back to in my own head is something that I've been big on throughout my entire life. Of being grateful for the little things.

Grateful for the everyday ordinary actions of others.

Being grateful to wake up in the morning.

Grateful for the sound of the birds outside of my bedroom window. For the coffee that I'm drinking right now as I'm recording this podcast. All the ordinary little things.

Recognizing them, paying attention to them.

Being grateful. My friend, if there's nothing else that you get out of today's episode, I want you to remember the importance for yourself of being grateful.

When you can fill your heart with thanks, it makes less room for all the bad stuff.

It's why every day when I wake up, first thing I do is I thank God for the night's sleep.

Now unfortunately, now that I've hit my 40s, sleep isn't so easy.

So baby, when it's been a good night's sleep, yeah, I am truly thankful. But even if it was a bad night's sleep, there's something I can be grateful for.

I can be grateful that I'm waking up at a home.

I can be grateful that God has blessed me with a family that fills my home. Be grateful for the day ahead.

Take the time in your life, in your busy everyday life to be grateful, to tell people how much you love them, how much you care about them, how much they mean to you.

And my goodness, if somebody does something for you, if it's somebody who holds the door for you, they're a complete stranger. If there's somebody who simply just passes you in the hallway and smiles and compliments you on your outfit, will you please, by all means, take the time to immediately recognize that person and say thank you, be grateful.

That is what this world needs more of.

And it's what you need more of, is a heart full of gratitude.

Gratitude for the little things, for the big things, and for every single moment we have.

Because again, the whole thing that today is about is the fact that every single moment is truly a gift.

And if we aren't gonna take an opportunity such as this, as this horrible, tragic news story of these people's lives who ended so tragically, so suddenly, if we can't take that and make it mean something, then my friend, we're totally missing the point.

We're not just supposed to consume the news and let it then just flow into something else.

Instead, no, look at the stories.

Look at the stuff that's happening around us and what can we learn from it? How can we make our lives better?

How can those people's tragic death mean something more?

My friend, I don't know why bad things have to happen in this life. I don't understand why that plane had to crash.

I don't understand why those poor people had to go through such a horrific, terrifying experience that they did.

But what I do know is that if we wanna make some type of purpose out of it, we have to begin to look at things differently.

We have to not just look at that as a story, but instead as a lesson, a reminder for us all that we're running out of time.

This is our chance to live life, to tell the people we love that we love them, for us to pay attention to the sunrise every morning, to not curse the sound of the birds in the morning that have woken us up, but instead recognize their beauty, to understand that every little thing is beautiful and to stop thinking of life as a burden, but instead of understanding that it's a gift, it's a blessing, and no, does that mean that I'm trying to pretend that life is easy? No, life is really hard,

really difficult, but sometimes we just gotta sit back and we gotta find the good because that is our choice.

One of my favorite things to say, and I'm gonna say it here, is that we can't always control what happens to us in this life, but we can always control how we respond.

We get to choose how we respond to what happens to us.

We can either choose to be negative, we can choose to see the bad, we can choose to respond in a bad way, or we can find the positive. We can find ways in which we can turn it around for our good, for the good of those around us.

There's always something there.

There's a silver lining. There is a rainbow after the rain, but you have to be willing to look for it.

For me, for today, I'm just reminding myself that I'm running out of time, and so if there's things I wanna do, stop planning and start doing.

For you, I'm sure you've got a whole list of dreams, and I can't help but wonder how many of those dreams are things that you could actually just go ahead and do right now instead of putting off, instead of marking them as someday, make them today.

Do it now.

Do it right now.

Stop planning and start doing.

That's the whole message because we're all running out of time.

My friend, today, I hope that I've simply made you think of things a little bit differently, inspired you to just start living a little bit more, to start planning a little bit less, to start doing a whole lot more often. I don't wanna scare you with today's topic.

I don't want to come across as focusing on the doom and gloom, but instead, I just wanna be here to inspire you, to motivate you to live this life while we have the chance.

If there's someone in your life who you love, you tell them. You be sure that they know it.

Every single day, they understand just how much you do love them.

Build the people up around us because when I'm telling you, we never know when I love you is gonna be the last time that they heard it.

My friend, until next time, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and this is Grit, Grace and Inspiration.

[Closing song, We're Out Of Time by K-Lowe Music]

K-Lowe Music: There's a phone call I've been meaning to make A little more love I could've given away A hundred little things I've saved for someday Like someday's never gonna fade There's a fresh cup of coffee on the table A morning sun coming through the blinds And a thousand little blessings I've been missing While I've been busy chasing time We make our plans like forever's guaranteed But forever's not a promise we receive We're out of time Those words still echo in my mind There's so much love we've yet to give

So many dreams we've left behind We're out of time But I'm still here, I'm still alive There's someone left for me to love And so much life I've yet to live So let us hold on to the moments While there's still time [Instrumental] There's a grandmother waiting by the window For a visit that keeps getting pushed aside There's a friend who'd give anything to hear you Say hello just one more time There's a child reaching out across the dinner table While the world keeps calling on your phone And the moments that

you thought were just ordinary Are the ones you'll miss when they're gone We spend our lives believing there's more time Till something makes us realize We're out of time Those words still echo in my mind There's so much love we've yet to give So many dreams we've left behind We're out of time But I'm still here, I'm still alive There's someone left for me to love And so much life I've yet to live So let us hold on to the moments While there's still time Someday there'll be a final

sunrise A final kiss, a last goodbye A final laugh around the table A final chance to make things right And we won't know when it's happening We won't hear a warning sign So let the people that you love know While there's still time We're out of time Four words from a voice that faded A final message left behind That reminds me life's worth living We're out of time So let's stop living like we're waiting Let's say the words we've held inside Let's make the most of being alive Make the call

Say I love you Let the little things shine [Instrumental] We're not promised tomorrow So let's be grateful While there's still time [Instrumental]