With a Conscience - "What I know...Now"

 

     The older you become, the more death becomes a closer and closer reality.  I am sorry for being so morose but this is a fact.  Each year is a blessing.  Each year should produce more gratitude. This past year, I have attended the wakes of many lost lives and the one take away from each of them is that these individuals lived incredibly full lives.  Age had absolutely nothing to do with their death.  It had everything to do with how they conducted their life while living.

     You can not be sixty years old and not reflect on the choices you have made and the work you have done.  It has always been about choice.  When you go to bed each night, and you think about the day, think about what really happened.  Think about how you have treated yourself and others.  I have known so many who have faced cancer, and other debilitating health issues and they survive.  They survive because they have purpose.  They love. Boy do they love!  They face their issues with faith and with a strength that leaves me in awe.  Purpose gives us strength.  Purpose gives us a will to live.  When you have loved, you have reached a goal that many run from and many avoid. To love, means you have become beyond brave. This is our purpose as human beings. 

     Death brings peace.  I have yet to see that not be the case.  BUT, it is the faces of those who have loved, still living, that have to face that loss and find a way to face and cherish their memories of those they have lost.  This is often not an easy task. There is guilt.  There is a feeling of helplessness.  There is an emptiness that for most will always be felt no matter how much time is passed.  This goes for anyone and anything (pets too)  that has meant anything to us.  Grief is real.  Grief is the wakeup call that makes us realize we will not live forever so we had better follow our dreams and get busy.

     You can not be 60 years old and not wonder how much time is left but what I need to add to that thought is, we can also ask ourselves, "What's next? What else do I want to do before I am unable?" The answer to that is we need to follow our hearts.  We need to feel that fear and do "it' anyway. Fear stops us from doing so many things.  I dare say, that will not be me.  I hope it will NOT be any of you.