Shootin' It Straight - A Lifetime Fully Lived

I've seemingly been to more funerals lately than the normal rate. It's a combination of getting older, when the end becomes inevitable, and simply understanding that life down here is merely a vapor. It truly is gone in an instant.

In roughly 100 years, few will even know we existed. Our names may be found in old pictures, legal papers, and carved in stone, but few daily discussions will carry our name. What we are tasked with in our short time here is to make the most of it with what we are given. We will be measured by the mark we leave on others. In a world bent on self-gratification as quickly as possible, we lose sight of building something that lasts beyond us.

We have no guarantee of our next heartbeat, yet we take for granted the fact that we'll see another sunrise. Rather than view such facts as doom and gloom, we should use our allotted time wisely. Our employer, nor the "Joneses" we are keeping pace with, will mourn our passing. Two things alone should wholly concern us: the resting place of our eternal soul and what we did with what we were given.

Some are given a paved path with a silver spoon, while others trudge through the marsh, fighting a battle the entire journey. How far we carry ourselves has no relevance to where we start. We can leave behind a legacy that makes a difference. If we choose the unselfish path, we may even sacrifice some personal wishes to set our children up with a starting point a rung higher on the ladder. We can pass down kindness, knowledge, a good name, morals, and a code to live by, all of which cost us nothing.

The newest boat won't cross Jordan any faster. The hundred-thousand-dollar truck we put above family won't drive through the pearly gates. Holding a portfolio full of investments won't make your heart full in those last days. Two pence or two million dollars is all the same when there are no more days. Having wealth is no more an issue than anything else, but we must guard against it becoming all we look to leave behind.

We should make it our goal to live in such a fashion that, to those around us, our passing leaves a void that seems unfathomable to fill. If our names are woven into conversations for years after we leave this earth, then we have left a mark worthy of being carved in stone.