Isn’t it strange how a topic can surface in an afternoon conversation and, suddenly, you find that variations of the same topic crop up all around. When that happens, it is enough to trigger some fairly deep thinking and soul searching. It all centred around our life span and its limitations.
When in a stressful situation and life seems to be off the rails, it is only natural to long for some point in the future when you anticipate it will be a better time. I think that happens to every one of us at some point in our younger years. In those years, there is no question – life is going to go on forever – so there’s always a tomorrow. Then all too soon the years have flown and retirement comes into our line of sight.
The conversation went something like this …
If I am like my father, my life span will be rather short so I need to plan for an early retirement if I am to have a bit of time to enjoy life before I become too decrepit.
The Dash is the most important
Ever notice that on every tombstone there is the person’s name, the date of birth, a dash, and then the date of death. It is that dash that brings the stark realization that this is the time we have to make it work for us, to make it all worthwhile. Actually until I read Jim Clemmer’s latest blog, Soul Searching: The Dash Between the Years, I had never really paid attention to the way those significant dates are shown on tombstones. I had never really considered ‘the dash’.
To paraphrase, Clemmer was making the point that,
We don’t get to choose our date of birth, and unless you take things into your own hands, you won’t get to choose the day you die. What we do with that space in between is totally up to us. It is our responsibility. It is our choice. It is up to each individual to figure out what matters most.
Life is a Limited Time Offer
One never knows just how much time we will have for that dash. Whether it is short or long, the reality is that life is a limited time offer. It’s great to look forward to a certain time and space but we can’t afford to put so much into planning the future that we forget to invest our time and energy into living the NOW. We forget to enjoy the moment we are in.
U.S. philosopher and poet, George Santayana, once said,
“there is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.”
