I Am Aware Of... My Mortality
I am aware that death is a part of life. Only one thing is
certain, and that is our mortality. We may die today or we may live another s60
years. We may outlive our spouse or we may be the one receiving the rings as
the casket takes it place at the front of church. A tragic car accident may
take our life, we may lake our own life, or our bodies may succumb to cancer or
disease.
Regardless of the timing or the cause, we are going to die.
Admitting to and acknowledging our mortality opens the door
to one of two lifestyle choices. We may choose to fear death or we may choose
to embrace life.
Whether you look at it that simply or not, you likely make
such decisions unknowingly as you walk your earthly path. If you fear death for
example, you’ve likely had an internal discussion similar to the one below:
“I better not sky dive, it’s dangerous.” (When I say this, I
am saying– I’m terrified to die, and that fear is greater than my desire to
fall freely amongst the clouds)
I would not encourage careless or reckless behavior such as
drunk driving, boating without a life jacket, or driving your car off a bridge.
However, embracing life means putting aside some of your fears and moving
forward. Simply stated – to really live is to live like you are dying. What
would you do if you knew you had only 30 days to live? If you are embracing life,
your internal discussions may sounds more like this:
“I’ve always wanted to fly a plane; I signed up for flight
lessons.” (When I say this, I am saying – I’m aware of the chance I’m taking,
but the risk is worth it to do something I will enjoy)
We think we can wait until next year, or until we have more
money in the bank, a bigger house, etc…the fact is, there is no guarantee. We
owe it to ourselves to start living. In fact, we owe it to others to start
living. There are people in our neighborhoods, cities, towns, and likely our
own families we are fighting for one more breath, one more Christmas, one more
kiss, one more moment. People confined to wheel chairs who would give
everything they have for one more dance with their spouse. What an insult to
them and an insult to our creator to take our moments for granted.
Live like you are living! Don’t put off until tomorrow what
you could be doing today. Mend those broken relationships, take those risks.
Each of us is here for a reason. We should make each breath and every moment
count for something!
Crystal as a mother of a child who is terminal words are very true, I myself have started living not just for me but for her going places I would not have normally gone and stopping to listen to her silly songs and singing itsy bitsy spider ten times in a row does not annoy me any more. Thank you Elizabeth for making me live better. Love Mom
ReplyDeleteCarolyn - I am in awe of you. You are incredibly strong. I hope you will reach out if at any time I can be of assistance to you in any way. I would also love to help you share your story and your journey if you feel compelled to do so at some point now or in the future. I'm sure there are other parents who could benefit from your positive outlook and your dedication to family and dear Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteI am more than happy to help any parents out there from how to get you disabled child what they need to taking the first steps to the actualization that you will out live your child and trying to keep moving forward even how to tell your other children that their sibling is going to die. You can share my story I can possibly write something. We don't have a lot of money so I can't always donate to make-a-wish but I do public speaking at their events when asked and try to attend as many of their events as possible. You can contact me though face book or email carolyn.gilley@gmail.com
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