The sun sets on another day…
Sunset is coming in a few moments. The sky is clear and bright and I am pondering a great deal, after all, the sunset will be spectacular, and the day has been interesting.
I read a poem today. I was in between my meetings and a few moments away from nothing and something. The poem was quite simple. You can read it here. The Dash
I thought about a few people when I read it, and could not hold a tear from my eye. So many people are more than just a dash.
My father was one. He may have done some things I don’t agree with, but he was my hero in so many ways. He protected people when he needed to, no matter what and what the cost. In the end, he was surrounded my hundreds upon hundreds, and as I looked out across them they had their stories about how he touched them, helped them, or opened their eyes to something new.
I thought about my niece, who in her short years stood for something, and stood out among a crowd as a light to those who knew here. For each of the people she knew, they felt she was their best friend, and she was because she honestly cared. She gave her life trying to help someone in need.
Then I considered another funeral I went to of a friend, and there I stood with 4 other people by a grave that would echo in the mist. Where was the life they lived, the love they gave? Where was it?
Why do we wait? Why is there a dash between two dates? Why are we not engaged and involved? Why can’t we get past our pettiness and see that all of us are unique, and every person has worth. If we cannot accept the ones we think are worthless, what does it say of our worth? If we blame anyone for anything, do we not blame ourselves as well? We have a choice, we can be more than we think. We can touch more than we know.
The last few years have created many dashes. So many people will be forgotten. Not because they had no worth but because we game them only the worth we were willing, and in the process we made them a dash, and let the dust take them. We made them a dash as they did to themselves.
We choose. We choose to be a dash between two dates, as we do we must understand that that dash can be a symbol that opens hearts and minds, or it can be an echo of what could have been. We choose. I am going to try to let people know now, not just with some words at an end, that they are more than a dash.
So as the sun sets on another day, we all should let people know that we are all a series of fantastic and amazing experiences and hope that we share enough that our dashes are dashing, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, live life, and be dashing all the way…