I often wondered who it was who said that "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Two clicks away and all roads pointed to John Lennon. Really? Nah....really? So I dug a little deeper and learned it was first published in a 1957 Reader's Digest and at that time it was linked to Allen Saunders. No matter what those are twelve words of truth and it really doesn't matter who said them. That's just how universal knowledge works. It resonates. It clicks the light on. It affirms the journey.
Life, it's been an interesting journey to say the least these past few weeks. Life has definitely been 'happening.' I've been deeply moved watching the resilience of the human spirit in the news as our country's natural disasters tear families and communities apart. I felt goosebumps listening to strangers huddled together in a freezer in Missouri as a tornado ripped through the store they were in. In what were thought to be their final moments here, in the darkness, between strangers, there were words of reassurance and love. Read that again....a show of LOVE between perfect strangers. Love, the one thing that mattered when all else was disappearing.
My heart has ached watching from afar an old school/neighborhood friend grieve the sudden and unexpected loss of her thirty-four year old brother in an automobile accident. The first time I watched her grieve in this way we were but young girls in middle school when she lost her mom. To see her family go through this new and sudden loss unsettled me. I know that many a family see multiple heartaches in their lifetimes. I know that there are no words that can really change that newly formed forever hole. I also know that when such heartache comes that these families need and want nothing but love.
In this specific situation I hadn't seen my friend's brother in person since he was a boy but even then he left a very distinct impression on me. Back then he was forever making other people laugh. We'd caught up to each other on Facebook in February 2010. Since that time I'd caught up to the artist he'd become, the lives he was touching and the life he was building. Despite the loss in his childhood, despite the hole that was forever there for him and four siblings, he kept on keeping on and he walked his journey in love. The afternoon before he passed another old high school friend I'd just recently connected with the day before had brought up his name in an exchange of whom do you still keep up with questions as we chatted by phone. It was actually the first time in months his name came up for he wasn't really active on FB. To learn Friday afternoon that he'd passed that morning, well, we were both speechless. Yet another bold reminder of how life happens.
So I just want to remind you that life is beyond precious and fleeting. Your time here is a gift. The lives you touch and the difference you make is what lives on after you're gone. Make your mark, follow your path, and listen to the universe when it corrects your course. Tomorrow is not promised. Make that call. Extend your smile, your hand, your time. Tell them you love them and make each moment count. Remember that you have a purpose and that purpose is love. Know your worth, you are priceless to someone.
Copyright ©2011 Nita Clewis All rights reserved.
For personal use only. Commercial use without permission is not allowed.
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