Living
Life
“In
the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your
years.”
Abraham
Lincoln
I have
friends who’ve traveled the world. They have gone not only to the usual European
countries, but to China and India and Africa. Several have sailed down the
Amazon River and climbed the mountains of Peru to Machu Pichu. Some have
traveled down under to Australia and New Zealand, and some have photographed
the blue glaciers of Patagonia. When we hear that someone has “truly lived
his/her life” that is usually what we mean—they’ve let no moss grow under their
feet; they’ve seen it all.
How
does that translate for those of us who haven’t traveled widely? Have we failed
to live our lives? I met a woman on my trip to the outer banks who’s spent much
of her life taking care of other family members; she identifies herself as a “care-giver”
even though she’s also quite a brilliant playwright. If she had introduced
herself as a playwright, would she be viewed differently? Another friend calls
herself a “death doula” because she’s spent most of the last decade assisting
people in their final days. I’m always stunned by people who took a job right
out of high school and stayed there until retirement, who seemingly never looked
backward nor forward. The steady-eddies of the world—have they failed to live
their lives?
Who is
to say what “living one’s life to the fullest” means for any other person?
Perhaps one has a rich and diverse inner life that they have explored fully. Perhaps
the deepest desire of their heart is to do exactly what they are doing. I know
a gentleman who worked all his business life as a tax attorney, which seems
like a dry and thankless job to me, and now he designs and grows an incredibly
beautiful seven-acre garden on a hilly plot of ground at Lake Martin. Which one
of those pursuits is a waste of time?
The
fact that people are uniquely individual with different opportunities and
choices means that everyone’s life will be different. If we are fortunate
enough to live our days doing what we love, then our life is well spent. If we
live our lives doing what we must, then our life is equally well spent. There
are no wasted lives. We are each here on an individual journey; no two will
match. No one’s journey is more important than another. When you come to the
end of your life, regardless of how long or short, it will have been well lived simply because you have lived
it. Take comfort in that.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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