MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Monday Aug. 13, 2018
We see someone across some street who resembles someone we know, or knew. We call out – only to learn moments later not, that stranger didn’t really look as much like our old friend as we thought.
Which begs this question: do we look like we used to look?
Aging and stages of life alter us physically – we don’t fit the same size container, we’ve grown larger in many ways and then we start to shrink again, to be small. Some in stature, some in status, some in importance and others in terms of what is important to them.
We all know that but deny it every chance we get. We promise to live better, eat better, take better care of ourselves so we can live long fruitful happy healthy lives. So we tell ourselves …
But nobody is listening. There is no central clearing house or official office of longevity where we can purchase a permit to live.
We can try hard, work hard, play hard and take care of everything smart people should in terms how we should live long and well.
Houses burn, but we live in houses.
Boats sink, but we rid in them.
Planes crash, but we fly in them.
Armies kill and maim, but we pay taxes to fund armies.
Hospitals are full of sick people and disease, but we visit anyway …
Whether we live to 96, or only 26, our role in life is to live it well. To laugh. To cry. To read and write and sing and hug and eat and drink and to be merry beings. Our life is finite. Live it well.
