November 14th, 2008 - Enjoy the little things

This evening a friend and I discussed life philosophies over dinner. I noted that I'm OK with the idea of my own death - when it's my time to go I'll have no regrets. My dinner companion seemed a bit taken aback by the idea and said she doesn’t think she could make the same claim.

As the conversation progressed she described a hiking trip out West and the clear, star-riddled skies which can be incredibly beautiful when viewed from remote locations - far from city lights. Shooting stars are even easier to spot out there and in one viewing night she had spied three of them streaking across the sky. Each one giving her the opportunity to make a new wish.

Even knowing that divulging those private wishes would surely invalidate them, I asked her "What did you wish for?" A question motivated in equal parts by curiosity and flirtatiousness.

Imagine my surprise when she began to enthusiastically respond "Well, they…" Then she paused abruptly. She glanced down, then looked back at me and leaned forward ever so slightly. She said in a softer voice "Well, I can't say what they were. I think you know that."

I grinned and agreed "Oh yes, to say them out loud would mean they wouldn't come true."

As I drove myself home I thought about my position on being OK with my impending (though probably not imminent) death. You know, it's not so much that all my dreams have been fulfilled. In fact my memory reaches back to a day in my youth, a moment frozen in my mind's eye, when I formulated wishes for my future life. By now some of them have been met while others still lie in wait.

But a "life well lived" doesn’t seem measurable by the wishes achieved, for who among knows how many days remain for ourselves? Surely mountain climbers enjoy contemplating the best route, awakening each day to a new challenge, relishing each step toward the goal. It seems the most successful view the summit as not obtainable on every attempt - however their fulfillment appears rooted in their yearning and daily striving. Their ultimate goal realized not by reaching the summit but by actively experiencing each moment of their journey.

"Enjoy the little things in life for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things", Robert Brault