Sunday Story...Death Be Not Proud

Sunday Story…Death Be Not Proud

“For death begins with life's first breath, and life begins at touch of death.” --- John Oxenham

Each and every one of us is going to pass from this earthly existence. It has been our fate since our first breath; a guarantee that some day we will take our last. In between our first and our last breath is the life we will live. We can’t always determine when our last breath will be but we can determine how well we live in between those breaths.

Recently a friend of mine took her last breath. It was an unexpected event as most deaths are. This one even more so since the age and the health of my friend would not warrant any one to predict or expect this, the ultimate complication to occur. She was kind, loving and generous. Her husband and children and grandchildren will miss her terribly. The world is less for her no longer being a part of this earthly plane.

Fortunately she was a very organized person and she left her affairs in order. Things were easy enough to find, wishes were carried out and the tedious day to day tiny things were more easeful because she was organized. Me…not so organized. If I were to draw my last breath today things would be a mess. Actually that is an understatement; they would be a disaster. I have stuff in 4 different places, no last will and testament, no durable power of attorney, no advance directive. And since my daughter is reading this…and since she will be the one to deal with it…I will make it a priority to get those things done, I promise, before the month is out. Not doing these simple things is dis-respectful of the people left to deal with the detritus of a life. You can join me in getting these little things done.

The other part of not doing them is, in fact, an unreasonable fear of death…a denial of the obvious and the inevitable. We all know, intellectually, that we are going to pass. But maybe if we just ignore it, death will go away; just neglect our door step until….when? I mean even if you got to pick the time and day of your passing…when will you finally get all those little details done? So why not just do them now and get it out of the way?

You could even plan your memorial service…pick the music, the inspiring readings, the pictures you want the world to see, how you want to be remembered. You could write your own obituary…of course you would want to update this fairly often but you could write what you want to be written. As a matter of fact writing your obituary is a very good exercise…you get to write about your life like your passing is 10 years in the future. What will you accomplish in the next 10 years? What will you have completed, started, or released? How will the next 10 years differ from the last 10? Other than you being 10 years older than you are today?

This leads us right into the goal setting part of the exercise…if I write my obituary 10 years in the future I am creating my life for the next 10 years. And when you and I look back on New Year’s Day 2020 what will you have done? What legacy will you have created? What life will you have led? Who will you have influenced? Who will you have let influence you? Will you have spent the time or will you have just let it slip through the hourglass? We create budgets for our money…we should also budget our time. And time is more precious than any dollar…since I cannot create more time. Once that moment is gone it is gone for good, never to return or be recreated.

Every one of us is going to die. Our earthly body will crumble and fail at some point. The question to contemplate right now is twofold…one, are your affairs ready right now? Can someone come in and find all the paperwork, the bank accounts, the requests, the legal mumbo-jumbo that needs to be around after we are not? And # 2...is your legacy ready? Have you planned what you want the rest of us to remember? And if you have planned it, are you working that plan? Are you doing something right now to that will move your legacy forward?

Death be not proud…you are coming for each of us. There is no pride in solving the inevitable. Life affords us the occasional window to see what is coming. We can pull up the blinds and look out and decide to deal with the inevitable or we can keep the blinds down, sit in the dark and hope death passes us over. It won’t but you can always participate in self delusion. Those of us left won’t be very happy with you but we will get through it. You, on the other hand, missed your shot at creating the life you could have had, the life you always wanted, the life you richly deserve. So what do you say? Look up and create something or stuff your head in the sand and hope everything turns out OK?

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” --- Anonymous

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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