Beech Tree News Network

DYING TO LIVE-Years ago, right around the time when I was first diagnosed with cancer, there was a song that came out which for me personally, brought loads of comfort. It was almost as if someone was following me around and taking notes, then decided to put my story to music. The song is called – live like you were dying. The song speaks of a man being in his early 40's with a lot of life before him when a single moment came that changed everything. Boy can I identify with that situation; the moment when mortality gives you a real wake-up call. Now, I never went sky diving or rode a half a ton beast capable of stomping me to death but the things like loving deeper and speaking sweeter and giving forgiveness that I had been denying, that I know about.

The song spoke about hoping that others someday have the chance to “live like you were dying!” You see, he saw it as a gift, one with far more benefits than drawbacks; he is absolutely right! When time is no longer seen as an inexhaustible resource, it really puts things into perspective about whats important and what is not worth your time dealing with or being fearful of. Part of the chorus is what really grabs me though and it is possible to easily overlook it without much deep introspection but it goes like this “ like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity to think about what you'd do with it, what COULD you do with it? What CAN I do with it? What WOULD I do with it?”

That is what life is all about folks and if you are not careful you will miss this basic concept about the purpose of life or worse yet twist it into the very opposite of what it should be. This may sound like a simple enough concept to grasp but believe me I see widespread and common acceptance of a whole different way of going about life and it saddens, irritates, frustrates and grieves me to the very core of who I am. In fitness and holistic health circles, the latter of which I have become much more familiar with since my diagnosis, there is a saying, “eat to live, don't live to eat.” Many of us put a lot of emphasis on the pleasure of eating and the sensations associated with food but the truth is food is supposed to fuel your body in a healthy way so you can enjoy the rest of your life, not have food become the center of it. I see the same thing happening with a lot of folks concerning life in general, A lot of people are living as though death is the most important part.

I hate that approach, the “I'll lay my burdens down,” “just passing through,” “temporary home,” way of going about life. Life has very little meaning when all you focus on is the end of it. The “ last days” “world is going to heck,” “none of it matters because it is all going to be destroyed,” approach is also just as destructive to our collective spirit as the first example is caustic to our individual spirits. To really have purpose and meaning in life you have to focus on, “what can you do with it,” “what will you do with it;” what can I do that will make a difference?

We are powerful beings when you stop and think about it, children of an awesome God. Some of my causes that I am passionate about involve education, universal health care and bringing spirituality into our everyday lives. Education- because I feel we had a great opportunity about a century ago and we blew it as a society. To give each child a sense of wonder about the world and to inspire life-long inquisitive natures, this is bringing the spiritual into the lives of all children and has nothing to do with the separation of church and state. To provide quality health care to those battling to a point of almost giving up hope simply because of greed, this brings spirituality into our everyday lives. If you can make a difference in one child's life, about ready to give up, or if you can give hope where there was none, then do it. Perhaps it may be something as simple as speaking sweeter or more softly, or giving forgiveness when it is a struggle to do so.

My personal mentor and Lord, firmly and decisively denounced the fear and doomsday way of going about life. Instead he offered a way where hope and inspiration are extended as an alternative method of going about life. I think I will partner with the maturity of hope, rather than side with the cowards who only offer fear and doom in their approach. Don't live to die, instead try- dying to live!