Some people have long lives, some people have short lives. – Moussa
Moussa is a friend of ours. Originally we presumed he was from Senegal, but we recently found out he hails from the Ivory Coast. He is working hard for his US citizenship examination and probably knows more about checks and balances and separation of power than most citizens. He is rather thoughtful and has been quoted here before.
Today’s Thought came about after Moussa shared the news with me – news as heartbreaking as it is tragic – that his son had died shortly after his birth in the Ivory Coast. Moussa said family had called him Friday morning our time with the news. We presume his wife survived the ordeal, though Moussa didn’t say and we were too thoughtless to ask.
I offered every sympathy and condolence, of course, and Moussa shrugged what has to be life’s greatest tragedy off as he would have the bus being late or something being out of stock at the store, noting that these things happen in a life, what are you going to do?
Some people have long lives, some people have short lives.
A lot of our existence is random. Some are born to be monarchs, some die a few minutes after they’re born. Some are born in a country with a stable government and some are born into chaos. Some are born healthy and some are born frail. Having little or no control over some aspects of our existence is the way the world is built.
And, of course, our time on this planet is finite. It is of indeterminate length and unless the governor has set an execution date, we have some zero clue when it will end.
But there are things we do have control over. For example, all of us can put the 24 hours each of us has every day to good use. We better, because there will come a time – probably when it’s our turn to die – when each of us will be obliged to reflect on our lives. We will have to examine ourselves and determine if we did well or if we squandered our time here.
The best lives are lived by those who are determined to do well. It doesn’t matter what you do, either, as long as it comes from the heart, as long as you live the life you were meant to live every day. Our time on this planet could end tomorrow and it is incumbent on all of us to make our time serve us.
If you are looking back on regrets and what ifs now, don’t worry about it. We can’t let our pasts handcuff our futures but we can start living the life we were meant to live right now. Even the smallest steps in that direction will produce a dividend of confidence and self-esteem, the foundation for future successes.
The Thought for the Day runs regularly. Quotes are from Gaylon’s private stock.
