The shoulders of Giants … ( 06 / 02 / 2012 )
The shoulders of Giants … ( 06 / 02 / 2012 )
A good Friend of mine passed away yesterday morning . His transition came as no surprise , as he had been chronically ill for many months previous , and yet the loss was palpable all the same …
Death is an interesting phenomenon for us humans . In lives overflowing with choice and free will , it is truly our only inevitability -- the only thing that is certainly certain about our future . And yet we all seem to avoid any focused thought as to its slow & steady approach – often engaging in behaviors essentially meaningless and often dealing with others with a most callous whim . Indeed , most of us show no signs of concern whatsoever related to death ’ s inevitable approach . In essence , even though we are all destined for death , most of us still choose to live as though we will never die .
And yet this makes a bit of sense , for if we were to wake up each morning and force ourselves to consciously remember that we are already dying ; that today could very well be our last day on Earth ; that life is truly as precious as it is fleeting , then we would be equally compelled to live accordingly …
… and this would require a drastic change in how we fill our days .
For if we were to regularly pause and remember our own mortality , we would not only stop at least once every hour to wonder over the immense Beauty that gently enfolds us in every smile & every sunrise , but we would also set forth each morning to make that priceless day a truly Meaning-full one …
We would spend a lot more time Caring for others and a lot less time caring about what we have to spend . We would strive to be successful , of course , and yet a truly Success-full day would be one in which we did something Kind for another for which we received nothing in return . For when we stop for even one instant and rally think about it , these are the only things that truly matter — these are the memories that will bring others Joy & therefore us , Peace .
Shakespeare once wrote that , “ Cowards die many deaths … The valiant taste death but once .” And when I think of this quote , I like to think that Shakespeare knew what cowardice & courage truly are — that cowardice is not running from a fight , but rather being presented with the opportunity to reach out to a stranger but choosing to look away ; that Courage is not going fearlessly into battle , but rather being too tired or too afraid or too busy to reach out to a stranger … and yet reaching out to them anyway .
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