Life...and what's really important

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. For some reason, my mind has been preoccupied with life and its true meaning. I have been studying and researching aspects of grief and of joy and how they relate to life, death and all else encompassed in the world around us. What my mind has centered on is how there isn’t much in this world that is truly “important.” A friend of mine who passed away from cancer put this into perspective for me quite a while ago and it’s now starting to sink in. He wrote down some of his thoughts shortly before he died and they had a huge impact on me. He wondered why there were so many trivial things that we seemed to zero in on. He concluded that when you were facing a life-threatening prognosis, NONE of those trivial things mattered one bit. With this sentiment, I must agree. Why do we spend so much of our time and energy worrying about our weight, how others perceive us, our jobs, money, etc…why is it that only when we are faced with death do we consider the things that make life worth living? Why do we waste so many precious moments being angry with others, judging others or worrying about things that we cannot control? I think we can all agree that status, power, money, etc…cannot be carried over when you die, so why oh why do we place so much importance on all of this? I am, from this day forward, pledging to embrace life and all of the beautiful things in the world. I want to focus a lot less on the superficial things. So, when I find myself having a “moment” (which we all will because humanity itself is imperfection), I am going to re-focus my attention and energy into something else. If I find myself wanting to judge someone, it’s time for me to kiss and hug on my boys. When I find myself stressing about my weight, I will give my husband a big hug. When I find myself worrying about money, I will tell my parents how much I appreciate all they’ve done (and continue to do) for me. And when all else fails and I am feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders, I will open my Bible and read. I will pray, I will sing, I will do whatever is necessary to change my outlook at the time. It is my humble vow to make the most out of whatever time in life I have. It’s too tiring to spend too much of my precious time focused on the things that just don’t really matter much. I want to be able to remember what the sky looked like on a cloudless day. Or the brilliant colors of the evening sunset. I want to recall in great detail all of God’s creatures, big and small. I want to dance in the rain, sing at the top of my lungs and not care how I sound, marvel at the creations that I take for granted on a daily basis. I want to live a life of pure beauty. I want to be able to see the joy in my deepest pains and sorrows. I want to make the absolute best out of life that is afforded to me. And when my time on Earth is done, I will be able to sing and dance all the way to heaven, knowing that I am leaving this life in peace. Something much more beautiful awaits me in heaven, but to be able to make the best out of my time here is something quite glorious.