Haveyouthoughtaboutwhatyouwantpeopletosayaboutyouafteryou’regone?Canyouhearthevoicesaying,“Hewasagreatman.”Or“Shereallywillbemissed.”Whatelsedotheysay?
Oneofthestrangestphenomenaoflifeistoengageinaworkthatwilllastlongafterdeath.Isn’tthatalotlikeinvestingallyourmoneysothatfuturegenerationscanbareinterestonit?Perhaps,yetifyoulookdeepinyourownheart,you’llfindsomethingdrivesyoutomakethiskindofcontribution---somethingdriveseveryhumanbeingtofindapurposethatlivesonafterdeath.
Doyouhopetomemorializeyourname?Haveanamethatiswhisperedwithreverentawe?Doyouhopetohaveyourfacecarvedupon50ftofgraniterock?Istheanswerreallythatsimple?Isthepurposeoflifetimecontributionanego-drivendesireforamortalbeingtohaveanimmortalnameorisitsomethingmore?
Achildalivetodaywilldietomorrow.AbabythathadthepotentialtobethenextEinsteinwilldiefromcomplicationisatbirth.Thecircumstancesoflifearenotsetinstone.Wearenotallmeanttolivelifethroughtooldage.We’vegrowntoperceivelife3asafullcyclewithacertainnumberofyearsinbetween.Ifallofthoseyearsaren’tlivedout,it’satragedy.Atragedybecauseahuman’spotentialwasneverrealized.Atragedybecauseasparkwassnuffedoutbeforeiteverbecameaflame.
Byvirtueofinhabitingabodyweaccepttheserisks.Weexposeourmortalfleshtothelawsofthephysicalenvironmentaroundus.Thetradeoffisn’tsobadwhenyouthinkaboutit.Theproblemcomeswhenweconstructmortalfantasiesofwhatlifeshouldbelike.Whenlifedoesn’tconformtoourfantasywegrowupset,frustrated,ordepressed.
Wearealive;letuslive.Wehavetheabilitytoexperience;letusexperience.Wehavetheabilitytolearn;letuslearn.Themeaningoflifecanbegraspedinamoment.Amomentsobriefitoftenevadesourperception.
Whatmeaningstandsbehindthedramaticunfoldingoflife?Whatsingletruthcanwegraspandhangontofordearlifewhenallothertruthsaroundusseemtofadewithtime?
Thesemomentsarestrungtogetherinaserieswecallevents.Theseeventsarestrungtogetherinaserieswecalllife.Whenweseizethemomentandbenditaccordingtoourwill,awilldrivenbythespiritdeepinsideus,thenwehavediscoveredthemeaningoflife,ameaningforusthatshallgoonlongafterwedepartthisEarth.