life is short

A couple of people in my life lately have brought home the realisation that life is short. It needs to be lived, not dribbled away.

It's so easy to get complacent, to waste great chunks of life just drifting along being resentful, tired, overworked, angry, or the wrong kind of lazy... Life needs to be savoured. You don't get it twice. If time is to be wasted, it needs to be wasted properly. If there's stuff to be angry about, do it thoroughly, then get it over with and move on. If you're tired, get some decent rest, good food, rehydrate, and get in shape to live a bit more. Don't waste it. Don't waste it.

Comments

[Songbird]

The way you put this is very helpful this morning. Thank you.

[Tony B]

And why does it take us so long to realise this?

[Mike R]

This is a recurring theme for me at the moment - I'm glad I'm not alone.

My sense of mortality has hit me recently. I don't know why. I'm not particularly old at 36, and I haven't had any life-threatening experiences, nor has anyone close to me.

I think you do come to a realisation of your finitude at some point, and it's easy to get down about it. We all do contribute stuff to life that we're probably not aware of - people receive good things from us even though we're not always aware of it.

But you're right to point out that its worth focussing on, and sharpening up. Most of the poetry that I write seems to be about mortality at the moment, and strangely, my poetry has become an important part of spending my time wisely.

[Ruth]

... and why, oh why, oh why is it so much more easily said than done?

[Paul Fromont]

"Find time for yourself. Feel it no shame at proper periods to be doing nothing. Make seasons for leisure and for recreation. Climb the hills; scour the valleys; row on the river; stroll along the beach. Cultivate the friendship of the fields and the ferns and the flowers. Laugh with the young folk and romp with little children. Be at your ease. Let the mind swing into an easy balance, a natural poise, an attitude of perfect repose. The restless soul, eternally doing something, never accomplishes anything. It is the person who can sometimes be at rest who produces the finest work in the long run. Find time for yourself!"

F.W. Boreham.

Quote and prayer (below) from Simon Carey Holt’s blog – check out his “everyday life” category – good reflections on “slowness” and pace.

A Michael Leunig Prayer

Dear God,
We struggle, we grow weary, we grow tired.
We are exhausted, we are distressed, we despair.
We give up, we fall down, we let go.
We cry.
We are empty, we grow calm, we are ready.
We wait quietly.
A small shy truth arrives.
Arrives from without and within.
Arrives and is born.
Simple, steady, clear.
Like a mirror, like a bell, like a flame.
Like rain in summer.
A precious truth arrives and is born within us.
Within our emptiness.
We accept it, we observe it, we absorb it.
We surrender to our bare truth.
We are nourished, we are changed. we are blessed.
We rise up.
For this we give thanks.
Amen.

[steve]

really helpful and needed.thanks maggi.