Life is Short…

I know you have seen the memes. I know you have read the stories. Life is short, eat the cookies. It seems so trite. It’s something everyone seems to say. Usually used to make some allowance for this or for that. But, at the end of the day, life is short, very short. Before you know it you have used up all your years. The end approaches, if only temporary, but did we really live? If there is one thing we have learned over the years is that life is short.  You have to ask yourself, did I live how I wanted to live? Did I spend my days in a full expression of life or did I sort of waste away the days looking for some other day? And what about all these things we wanted to accomplish? Did we really need to get it all done? Did we need to work so hard and for so long? Did we really want to invest so much time in someone else’s business? Finally retirement comes and at last we can do what we always wanted to do. But, can we? Or have the ravages of age limited our prospects? If there is one thing the years have taught us, the only moment we can fully live is the moment of right now. That future we have been so worried about never arrives. The past and all of our blunders and mistakes exist only in our memories. The best way to get the most out of your life is to appreciate and enjoy, when possible, now! How do you want to live it? What do you want to do with your time? Filling the hours with endless television and perpetual scrolling can’t be the answer. Before the advent of electrical devices spoon feeding us entertainment, we had time to think. Sure we got bored at times, but that boredom forced us to locate new avenues, new adventures. Imagine a day without the Internet or Netflix. Imagine what would happen if we started paying attention. Life is short…

As I consider the brevity of life, one thing has always come to mind. Your life, my life is just that, our life. We can spend our years exactly how we want to spend them. Who is to say that spending an evening reading a book is so much better than spending an evening watching TV? One feeds your mind with images and another fills your mind with words. The farmer that spends his life toiling in the soil is no less than the man leading a revolution. Each has a task to accomplish and each works hard to accomplish that task. The idea that your life is not a success unless you make a ton of money is deeply flawed. Money is perhaps just one indicator of success, but life is filled with things that carry more weight. Sometimes it feels as if the wheel of things drives us to accomplish more and do more, but do we have to get on that treadmill? Who and what are we accomplishing for? Is there a test at the end of life that rewards you more for accomplishing more, earning more, being and doing more? Or does the test rather measure how you lived each day and the love with which you lived it? It appears to be the latter. Nothing wrong with success and nothing wrong with accomplishment, if both are aligned with who you are and the gifts you have been given. In that, what drives your success? Is your success a blessing given for the heart filled effort you supplied day by day or is it a defense about who you are? The world loves comparisons and measurements and scales. The world loves to rank you and assign you your place. It pretends the most successful worked the hardest, but did they? Is a quiet life in the country less than a frenetic life in the city? How you choose to spend your life will always be something you are actively choosing. Life is short, choose what you love.

I wonder how much of the lives we lead, we are choosing. I mean honestly, how much of what we do, do we actually want to do. What things did we dream of before the world captured our attention? What things have grabbed our hearts only to be silenced and quelled? The true essence of life, it seems, centers on paying attention. Not the extraordinary, not the miraculous, but paying attention to what is. Life is short, but you can miss it. You can spend too many days either fulfilling requirements imposed upon you by someone else or driving yourself to some mythical accomplishment in order to satisfy someone else. The question is what satisfies you? What warms your heart? Life is not a competition to see who can acquire the most or gather the most toys before they die. Life is a grand adventure in learning. It’s about discovering life while you live your life. It is about overcoming obstacles and challenges. It’s about finding peace in the midst of your agitation. It is about gaining clarity and solutions to the things that have formerly plagued you. It is about learning what you can and cannot do, control and influence. It is about learning to pay attention; not so easily turning loose your focus. It is about finding the God who made you then living life at the highest level. This earthly life is indeed very short and absent God won’t be as fulfilling. But, once you discover Him, after Him reaching out to you, you begin to slow down a bit and appreciate. The whole of creation beckons you. Life is certainly much more than acquiring wealth and rubbing shoulders with the jet set. All people in their hearts want the same thing. Life is short but it’s purpose is discovery.

So how can you and I maximize our experience on this earth? Pay attention. Don’t discard Tuesday because it’s Tuesday. Live each day in the moment and look for the treasure that Tuesday may bring. Live each day in the fulness of it. Maybe it won’t be earth shattering or unbelievable, but get from it what it offers and look forward to the new day. Unchain yourself from the tyranny of accomplishment and “success” and live the day. What you must do only you will know. Do that which concerns you. Finish what it is you need to do and leave the rest to someone else. Why fret over tomorrow? Why spoil your days in anxious concern and worry? You do not know what lies ahead so trust the One who does. And for goodness sakes, don’t waste the day with time fillers and boredom. Filling the days with activities to make the day bearable only indicates your need to slow down and pay attention. There are infinite things you can do if you will break out of the illusion you have been living in. Having nothing to do simply means there are many things you are choosing not to do. Why that happened or how that happened is for you to figure out. But, figure it out you must because your life is short.

Life is so short my friends. Before you know it, you’re in the final inning. Why not release yourself from all of the imposed requirements and decide to enjoy it. Why not stop allowing other people to decide your best life and live the life you want? Love people, especially the people that love you. Invest in your heart, not in accomplishment. Give where you can give and be a source of goodness for others. People need that from you as the rest are engaged in a mad dash grab for self. This life is indeed short but you can fill those days with love. The sooner you can learn to make it about others, the sooner your fulfillment will come. Live the day that is and only that day. Don’t fear inactivity but instead do what the moment calls for you to do. Life is good, so good. Treat it properly.

Just some good thoughts…