What is a Lifetime?

How do you define a “lifetime?”  The very nature of the question leads most of us to believe the answer to equate to some undetermined lengthy span of time. We choose to believe in averages that we are somehow entitled to live until we are “old age”, whatever that means. But most of us know that isn’t always the case. In fact, a wise friend once told me…

“No one promised you tomorrow.” 

Unless you’ve experienced a personal loss or endured a significant emotional event of some kind recently, the precarious nature of life is not something you have likely given much thought to.  After all, why would you or should you? Why contemplate something that’s essentially out of our control?  

We live and plan our lives as if we’ll be around to see all of our hopes, desires, and ambitions take shape and materialize.  We don’t generally have any great sense of urgency to speak of because, after all, there’s always tomorrow.  But, what if…

What if you just received news that, for some reason, the definition (and fragility) of a lifetime suddenly becomes brutally apparent? Think of anyone you know who just received a dreaded diagnosis of cancer.  Or the wife who is expecting her husband to arrive home from work, only to learn that he died in a car accident on the way home. The news crushes like a ton of bricks and affects not only the recipient but virtually everyone connected to them—family, friends, co-workers. It’s enough of a significant emotional event to force an unavoidable breath-taking pause in the pace of life. These are the moments that force us to recognize that there is indeed a period at the end of this journey we call life. Plans suddenly become unimportant. Petty differences no longer matter. The only thing that suddenly matters is to plug the emotional crater that exists in the pit of the soul. 

Throughout the timeline of our lives, there are reminders that the brevity of a lifetime is an undeniable aspect of our existence. We watch in awe the miracle of birth, celebrate birthdays and accomplishments, cry at weddings, and endure tragedy and misfortune along the way. Oftentimes, we ignore the overt hints provided to us to help us recognize how truly precious and fragile our lifetime is, and to take account of just how we’re spending the timeline of our own lives. The question then becomes, are we listening? 

No matter how you personally define the term, a lifetime is dealt to each and every one of us disproportionately. We are left to accept—like it or not—that the timeline somehow aligns with God’s master plan. 

Your Call to Action

The purpose of this article is to remind us all that, no matter how we define it, the end of a lifetime is not ours to control. However, what we do and how we choose to live the life we do have is totally and emphatically up to us.  

So…WAKE UP!  Look around you and allow the nuances of life to permeate all of your senses. See color where you once failed to recognize it. Breathe in fragrances that make you smile or bring you to a place of spiritual harmony and balance. Listen to sounds that you’ve previously tuned out. Discover the essence of your inner self, where true peace, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding exist. The best way to capture all that is to live in the moment. 

It is true that we can have, be, do, and become anything we desire in our lifetimes. We have only to desire, and then to act, in order to project the purpose we choose for our lives. 

What a tragedy it would be for us to reach the end of our life knowing that we lived below our potential or failed to offer kindness or love in a manner that truly matches the intent and desire of our innermost selves. Don’t be that person. Instead, live each moment, appreciate the now, hold close the people you love and tell them how you feel. Be passionate and passion will resonate in every facet of your life. Expect the best for yourself. Become something or someone you truly know you are capable of becoming.  Reach deep and reignite the vision you once had. Don’t put it off until tomorrow because no one promised you tomorrow. Seek divine guidance and wisdom and it will seek you.  

Savor the moments...

Until next time!

- G -

"Live as though today is your last, love as though tomorrow will never come, and dream as if there are no limits." ~ G. Westfal

Portions of this article originally published by Gary Westfal (11/18/12).
© 2019, G-Life Enterprises Corp.

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