Death is inevitable for all of us.
That has recently been brought to my attention by a death in the family. I
won’t say who or bring up too many details because I know this particular
person didn’t always like to be the center of attention. I would like to share
something I learned from them, though.
Life is like a game that we’re
constantly trying to stay alive in. Don’t eat that, don’t drink that, go to
this doctor, take this many steps etc . . . these are the things we do to buy
ourselves more time on this earth. Eventually, we are defeated, though. Death
never loses. It sounds like a grim fact, but what I’m about to tell you now
might be even grimmer. Did you know that most of us are defeated before we even
die? It’s true. As we get older, we accept certain limitations. We can no
longer work as much, play as hard, or learn as much as we used to. Many of us
also use age as an excuse to grow grouchy or cold to those around us. We become
a shell of what we were, and as the skin on our body wrinkles, so does our
soul. The face that we barely recognize when we look in the mirror is only the
tip of the iceberg because inside we’re no longer the same person either.
You might ask why I’m telling you
this. It’s simple. I want to point out that life defeats most of us long before
death does. The person who passed on in our family wasn’t beaten by life,
though. She still mowed her yard and did every active thing she used to do
while being in her eighties. She was still as sharp as she ever was, and she
didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone. Nothing about her had changed. Her skin had a few more wrinkles,
but her soul was unchanged. I realized something when death finally took her
out of this world. I want to be like that. I want to be able to accept that
death will eventually beat me but know that life will always be a game I have
control over. I don’t want age or a situation to make me half of what I was. I
want to truly live, no matter what my age might be.
Some people reading this might say
that age naturally takes everything from you - that what I’m saying doesn’t
make sense because it’s normal for a person to lose elements of themselves as
age creeps up on them. I understand that point of view, but I knew someone who
beat age and life at their own game. It’s not about being as strong or as sharp
as you once were. It’s about believing that you still could be and carrying on with
the strength, love, and desire for knowledge that you always had. It’s about a
thirst for discovery and new things out of life until there is no more life
left in you. That’s what living is really about. I would argue that so many
people stop living years before death ever has the chance to take them. I
challenge you and myself to be more like her. Try without excuses, take in
everything around you, and love even when it seems impossible. If you can do
that through all the good times and sorrow that life will throw at you, then
you’ve won the ultimate battle we’re presented with on this earth. We’re all
going to die. The only real question is if we’re going to decide to stop living
before it’s our time. I know I’m not going to. How about you?
No comments:
Post a Comment