Living Like There Is No Tomorrow
As you may have noticed, it has been a while since I have posted a blog. Sometimes life gets in the way. As we run on high speed feeling frazzled most days and then falling into bed at night with exhaustion, it is easy to forget what is really important to us. Have you ever stepped back and wondered where the time has gone and if you have been living the life that you want to live?
There is a poem called “The Dash” by Linda Ellis. For those of you who have not read it, it is about a man who spoke at a friend’s funeral and referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning…to the end. He noted that the first date was your birth date and ending date was your death. The dash in between those dates are what matters most. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how big your house is or what kind of car you drive, what matters most is how you lived and loved your dash.
As I sit here writing this blog, I am nervously awaiting for a phone call from my family to tell me that my father has taken his last breath. He is currently in hospice care and has been fighting to the end this entire week. I think back as to how he lived his dash the past 80 years. He lived with integrity, humor and love. I believe that my love for cars (mostly muscle cars and hotrods) came from him as well as my strong work ethic.
It is a shame that it has taken this ache in my heart to reflect on how I have lived my dash. Yes, I too feel that I live with integrity and love, but have I really lived the life that I was meant to live? I know that I sometimes worry about things that I really have no control over, which I am sure most of us do. Do I really have control over whether my family will get home safely as they travel to and from work? Does it really pay for me to feel like I have failed when people do not show up at my yoga classes? No. What really matters the most is that the love of my family and friends is what makes my heart smile each day. I know that I only have one life to live and have no idea when my time on this earth will end.
Teaching yoga has really changed me. I have learned so much about myself from each person that has given me an opportunity to share my love of yoga with them. Whether they have attended one class or many, they have each added to my dash.
Take a moment to think about how you are living your dash. We can all be less quick to anger, treat each other with more respect and show more appreciation to those who we love. Live each day like there is no tomorrow because there is no rewind button on the life we live today.
As I say at the end of each yoga class that I teach….May life give you happiness, joy and peace. Namaste