I think we've all heard the song, "Live Like You Were Dying". Many people I know say they live everyday to the fullest, to make life worth it. But the question is, do you really live like each day is possibly your last?
Sure, it's easy to go out and do the things you want and have a good time...but what are you really leaving behind for those who will remember you? What do you want to actually be remembered for? What will your last words be?
Lately, these things have been running through my mind, and to be honest, I'm not unhappy with what I've left behind me in life so far. I want to be remembered for being kind and polite, for loving and caring for animals, for being patient and gentle, and for generally being a good person. I would love for those who live after me to remember me for all the good things I did and said in life, and not for the angry outbursts or mean words uttered without thought.
So I'm being more patient in my day-to-day goings on, taking my time when responding to people who might irk me, and perpetuate drama for the sake of it. And even on the various social media outlets I have, like Facebook and Twitter, I'm not ranting or posting nonsense too much. Why go through all this trouble of monitoring my social media, and editing myself? I visited the profile of an old friend on Facebook earlier, only to find out he was recently killed in a car accident. His last status update?
So think on it, dear readers...what could your last words be? What will people remember you for? I'll leave you with a passage from a wonderful book, A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
"My, how foolish I am!" my friend cries, suddenly alert, like a woman remembering too late she has biscuits in the oven. "You know what I've always thought?" she asks in a tone of discovery and not smiling at me but a point beyond. "I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when he came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a comfort: to think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling. But I'll wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are"—her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone—"just what they've always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes."
Love and Lightning Bugs,
Sure, it's easy to go out and do the things you want and have a good time...but what are you really leaving behind for those who will remember you? What do you want to actually be remembered for? What will your last words be?
Lately, these things have been running through my mind, and to be honest, I'm not unhappy with what I've left behind me in life so far. I want to be remembered for being kind and polite, for loving and caring for animals, for being patient and gentle, and for generally being a good person. I would love for those who live after me to remember me for all the good things I did and said in life, and not for the angry outbursts or mean words uttered without thought.
So I'm being more patient in my day-to-day goings on, taking my time when responding to people who might irk me, and perpetuate drama for the sake of it. And even on the various social media outlets I have, like Facebook and Twitter, I'm not ranting or posting nonsense too much. Why go through all this trouble of monitoring my social media, and editing myself? I visited the profile of an old friend on Facebook earlier, only to find out he was recently killed in a car accident. His last status update?
"I hate my family. And that bitch who cheated on me can rot in fucking hell. I don't need anyone in my life. I hate my Mom, I hate my Dad, and I hate my baby sister. I don't need anyone anymore."Those are his last words, as he was struck and killed only 20 minutes later. His family will be turning his account into a memorial, as so often happens nowadays, and this will forever be the first things people see when they look him up. His last, angry, hurtful words, that he can never take back. THIS is the reason I will never again be posting in anger...I don't want my mother to ever have to see these words, let alone have to see them every time she comes to my Facebook profile.
So think on it, dear readers...what could your last words be? What will people remember you for? I'll leave you with a passage from a wonderful book, A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
"My, how foolish I am!" my friend cries, suddenly alert, like a woman remembering too late she has biscuits in the oven. "You know what I've always thought?" she asks in a tone of discovery and not smiling at me but a point beyond. "I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when he came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a comfort: to think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling. But I'll wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are"—her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone—"just what they've always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes."
Love and Lightning Bugs,
