We are all dying, but some of us are dying faster.
Some of us know we are on the fast track and some of us don’t – yet.
But even though we all know the truth of death, it doesn’t feel real until reality knocks us off our cloud.
I have an uncle who is facing death. He always seemed untouchable, but death comes for everyone. He is scared. He is angry. And he wants everyone to feel as miserable as he does.
On the other hand I know a 9-year-old girl who has gone through a life-threatening surgery and chemotherapy with an attitude of hope – even as her family has chosen to tell her everything about what is happening. Still, she shines on and her positive energy is contagious.
Perspective is shaping both of their stories.
My uncle won’t fight. He won’t even do the bare minimum. He hears death knocking and is unlocking the door because he’s lost hope.
On the other hand, the 9-year-old girl has changed things about her lifestyle that might seem impossible for even most adults and is enduring treatment with positivity. She has chosen to hope in God’s healing and wants to do her part too.
She has chosen and she wants. Did you catch that?
Choice and desire the essence of our perspectives.
It’s so easy to passively get through life or to keep doing things the same comfortable way, but to choose how you respond to life with purpose, that’s the real magic. We can choose hope. We can choose faith. We can choose love. We can choose everything about how we show up in this world to be a better person doing bigger things.
What my uncle and so many of us fail to realize is that we are actually choosing our story, right this second. What you do now matters.
We can’t go back to the past and we can’t even predict the future. Right this second is the only part of life we can actually live in and it can either be passive or on purpose. What we do in this moment is part of our story. What we do now actually influences our future! How cool is that? Even if our story has turned to shit, we have been given a new day – a new page – to write something new.
Our story can still be one of redemption, value, and success.
