Life Well Lived

I coincidentally read the spine of the Reader’s Digest (large print mind you) for the first time at the same time I was recalling how fantastic my life is and noticed the tagline for the magazine “Life Well Shared.” What an awesome way to mark our purpose in life – to share and share well. My life has been shared with people and animals who have enriched my soul, without which I would not be the woman of care that I am. My parents, grandparents (whose legacy I honored by writing Snakes Don’t Bite in the Cotton Field), brothers (two now deceased but still connected through my prayers and acts of service that I dedicate to the progress of their souls), girlfriends and male connections which round out my present-day presence. Each shared experience enriches who we are, even the “negative” ones. Uncomfortable, negative situations, as well as positive interactions, are teaching tools that may become blessings that help us to mature and get to know our true nature. So, in the bigger scheme of life-whatever you encounter and whoever you end up sharing space and time with-no matter how minute can become instructive. A life well shared can take on many, many dimensions.

You may share the love of a pet(s) or share the love of your life or share a brief moment with someone that becomes a catalyst for significant change. These charged moments, when you feel heightened emotions or a higher sense of being, actually are breakthroughs for change.

When you dig deeper into the stories of people who impress you, it is likely you will find that they too were impressed by something or someone that shaped their being. For instance, Michael J. Fox is on the cover of this particular issue (May 2010) of Reader’s Digest that I was reading. The title of the article is “What My Illness Taught Me.” In the article Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1991, says he practices acceptance and gratitude each and every day. His third book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, tells how he learned to live in the moment with those who share his life and the bounteous lessons learned. He says, “You will find that even the gravest problems are finite, and your choices are infinite.”

There are a plethora of stories about people who understand the power of infinite choice. Make time to read these life mastery stories, or even write your own, to permeate the awareness that we have much to share.

I am reminded of the story of the laid-off Pennsylvania school teacher who shared his life with teens when he started a string orchestra for youth in the neighborhood or the now quadriplegic woman, who was once a dancer, who teaches her “kids” dance and life choices from her wheelchair. Another power story is of a family in Stone Mountain, GA – the Habeeb’u’llah’s – who for the past sixteen years volunteer as youth mentors in a program named Project Azania and Umoja Souljahs in the community sharing self-empowerment using African-American history .

Make every encounter a treasure, make each experience golden, make your life and every life you share a rich trove of precious charm.

A life well shared is…

Live it so you know.