Is everyone familiar with the theory that life is a journey? I find that to be a truthful analogy. The funny thing is, even though all of our journeys will eventually end with us leaving this earth, each of us must take our own route to get there.
The past couple of weeks have been very sad for me.
People that I care about have lost important people in their lives. Mothers, Husbands, Wives.
I'm not sure what to say or how to feel about that.
When my husband was sick, I would refer to his illness as his cancer journey; his journey lasted 530 days. My friend's husband's journey was only 29 days. That is not a typo. It wasn't 290 days. It was 29.
It seems like just yesterday when we were at the employee Christmas party, sitting at the table, laughing and joking. Then came the doctor's visit in January. A 13-day hospital stay. A few days at home. A 6-day hospital stay, and a short 8-hour window in hospice care before the lord called him home.
I want to share a little story with you. When my husband was ill, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home and take care of him. I would sit in the living room with him while he was in his hospital bed, and I would do some writing or some reading. During that time, I began following a minister and medium from New Jersey. I was shocked to see on her Facebook page that she had unexpectedly passed away. They were going to be live-streaming her memorial service, and I knew I would definitely be watching.
The day of the service, I settled into the chair next to Mike's bed. He was sleeping, and I opened my computer and joined the service. For the next three hours, I sat with tears streaming down my face. I listened as person after person stood up and spoke at length about this woman. They spoke about her kindness, generosity, and selflessness, and about the impact she had on so many lives. When the service was over, I closed my computer and sat in my chair, looking out the window. Just me and my thoughts. Finally, my husband let out a loud snore/snort; he was good at that, and it jostled me back to reality.
You'll often hear me say that I'll have epiphanies. I want to tell you that this moment was the granddaddy of all epiphanies. It was almost as if someone had flipped a light switch in my mind and suddenly every mean-spirited, lousy thing I'd ever done was fully illuminated for me to see. I was horrified. I thought to myself, "Annette, if you died tomorrow, what would people say about you?" Would they eloquently speak of my kindness? Would they go on and on about my generosity? Would anyone say my existence made a difference to them for the better? I had serious doubts on ALL counts.
Listening to that woman's memorial service put so much into perspective for me. I realized what the true meaning of life is.
The real meaning of life is to live FULLY every day. What do I mean by that? Have gratitude. Nothing is owed or promised to you. If you don't appreciate what you have now, you'll probably never have anything better.
Do good things for absolutely no reason and with no expectation of getting anything in return. Someone said to me the other day, "You didn't have to do that." I thought to myself, she's right. I don't, and that's exactly why I did it. Not because I had to. But because I WANTED to.
Be kind. You never know what someone else is going through, and better yet, you don't have to. It costs absolutely nothing to shut your mouth and keep your opinions to yourself. Life is short. Lift people up. One kind word or gesture could be the tipping point in someone's life.
Be a light; this world can be a very dark place. The lady whose memorial I watched was Janet Nahovec, and she inspired me to do my part so that, when my time comes and my journey ends, I have done everything in my power to leave this world just a little bit better than when I came into it.
I always tell people I cannot promise anyone perfection, but I will always give you my effort. That's all we can do. Believe it or not, that's all God needs from you. Effort. I've asked God for do-overs more times than I care to think about, and you know what? He always granted them to me.
Think about your journey, how do you wanna be remembered? What would people say about you?
It's something to think about, right? I love you guys.