Yesterday, I received some very unsettling news from a friend. He had just discovered that one of his very best friends had passed on. He had just seen her, talked to her and I can imagine that they probably shared a good laugh or two. His crying went right through me and I wished that I could find the right words to comfort him as he grieved for his good friend and one of the biggest NY Giants fans that he’d ever known. (besides himself)
I spent the better part of the day today thinking about life. Every time I hear about someone passing fairly young, I think about all of the things that they did not get a chance to do. I wonder about the places that they’ve never seen, foods they’ve never tasted and all of the stuff that they’ve never tried. Why does it always seem so short? Then I ran across this quote from Ralph Waldo Ermerson that says,
‘It is not length of life, but depth of life’.
I believe that every date is appointed, birth and death. If you knew your end date, what would you be doing right now? Most people have so many things on their ‘to do’ list that they haven’t done. Why not? What’s stopping you? There are places to see, foods to eat, books to write, etc, etc, etc. Why are we always talking about GOING to do things and never actually DOING these things?
We’re so busy making plans to call people we never call. Making promises that we have no intention of keeping. We waste so much time stubbornly holding on to life long grudges. We expend so much energy on pointing fingers and placing blame. We relive injustice done to us and watch it over and over in your mind like some bad B movie. The whole while our life clock is ticking and before you know it, you’re menopausal, geriatric and just plain bitter.
Don’t let this be your epitaph! Live you life realizing what a gift it is and what a gift YOU are…to somebody. Stop talking about what you are GOING to do or WANT to do and (to quote Nike) JUST DO IT.
Today, I raise my coffee mug to Hope. She came, she lived and most importantly she loved her team, her family and her friends. Put in a good word for us Hope, I have a feeling that we’re going to need it.
