Legacy

Here's the weird thing about time, there's never enough of it. You spend you life wishing you did more, wishing there was more, hoping that what you did with your time was enough. But you'll never really know. The days seem short, nights shorter-if you don't work night shift- you find yourself figuring out a schedule to where you plan out every minute of every hour then realizing there's just not enough.

You figure that you're going to grow old and live until you're 100 or so, you don't really ever plan your death. You don't sit down with a pen and calendar it out the day and place you're going to go, so that you can fit in as much stuff in between now and then as you possibly can. Its crazy to think that at any given moment it could all end. I used to think that there was a hour glass, or a life glass, that before you came down to earth you took as much sand as you could fit into that glass and that was how long your life was going to be, so when it ran out it was over. I was ok with the fact that I had pretty big hands and probably over filled it. But it never really hit me that not all of our "life glasses" are the same size. Shoot, you could be the happiest, healthiest, and smartest person and still only get to 33.

Time, where can I purchase more? I would like to walk into a store, well I'd prefer a drive-thru, and buy some more time for an assignment that I neglected to finish because I was at work, or I was trying to get a full 6 hours of sleep, or some other excuse that permitted me from completing. Maybe I could purchase an access code to allow me all the answers for why I never seem to finish things on time, or for why I race through other things.

Its just a word I guess. I wish I had more time to do this, or that. I wish the days were longer, I wish I spent more time with loved ones, you know? Its only a word, but what you do with it, that makes it valuable.

My grandma has this quote in her living room, its also from HITCH if ya remember, "Life's not measured by how many breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away." There are so many things you can do in a day. Yeah you have to get enough sleep, go to work, school, eat three meals, exercise, and all in between... and sometimes you have to sacrifice some of these things for something else. Sometimes it sucks, but its the price we pay for LIVING. You have to sacrifice some sleep do drive to exciting places to adventure. Sure, you sacrifice a lot of sleep for various things. The hardest thing, is having to know when someone or something is not worth your time. That has to be the hardest. To cut them out knowing that in the end its just wasteful. Maybe the most wasteful is the amount of time it takes to realize that. It just happens.

Regardless of the amount of time we think we have, we need to use it. Don't waste it away sitting at home on social media or binge watching Netflix. Don't waste it. Do something to remember, whether that is in your eyes or the eyes of someone else. I long to be remembered by others as someone who never gave up. and definitely as someone who was funny and caring. But that's me, I like people to like me. What you want to be remembered for can be totally different, or maybe you don't want to be remembered, but want to have a killer time doing things people didn't think you could do.



Ya know what, there's this poem I think I read it in high school, but it sums up what I'm trying to say perfectly.

The Dash
by Linda Ellis copyright 1996

​I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real
and always try to understand
​the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before. 

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

​So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?

Well, I mean that's it. How do you want to LIVE your dash? 

Do you want to be remembered?

Do you want to slip away in the cracks?

I'll tell ya what, the thing I want to be remembered for? Using what time I had here, on not giving up. On whatever it may be. I mean, I don't want to be known as a quitter. 

XO,

MelFlo

**This post took me too long to finish. It sat in my drafts for some time. I couldn't seem to put my words on the page how I wanted them. And a couple of things came up that pushed me to put them out there. Sorry if ya get lost a little bit.**