Death is a promise. The kind you lock pinkies with a friend over, except your friend is the Universe and you don’t need a secret handshake of sorts. The Universe is good like that.
People die everyday. Everyday people are afraid to die. That’s not the most disturbing bit though. People are afraid to live.
Rule #1: NEVER assume your time here in this physical realm is finite.
If you wake up in the morning and go about your day to day and it always feels the SAME, you are doing it wrong. Even if your activities, rituals, and routines are the same. You change constantly. That’s a promise too. You are not the same person you were before you stumbled upon this post. You couldn’t be.
Rule #2: Don’t die to live or live to die. Live because one day you will die.
Time is an interesting construct. Humans, even more so. We seek out time, ask it to slow down when things are going well, ask it to hurry along when things are too heavy for our heart to hold. And time just goes on, in a rhythm far too familiar. A pace that is not too slow or too fast, but just right. Our time here is short. Tomorrow is NEVER a guarantee. Neither is a minute from now nor an hour from now. Do whatever it is you do, but do it because you really want to.
Rule #3: Love hard. Love “too much”. Love in excess.
Give love whenever you can, to whomever you can. People, places, things. Leave nothing untouched. Everything touches everything. Receive love when you can’t. If there is one thing this world is not short on, it’s love. The true kind. The kind that makes your heart melt. If you find yourself in a rut, unable to leave your bedroom, go love something. Let it be anything. Seek out love. It will find you. Your capacity to give love mirrors your capacity to receive it. Flex that muscle and you might surprise yourself at how love can be found everywhere.
Rule #4: TRUST. TRUST. TRUST.
Every moment plays out exactly as it should. What is not meant for you will not come your way. Whatever comes your way is nothing you cannot handle. Even when someone you love dearly dies. Even when someone you don’t know dies. No moment is wasted. Remember them for who they were when they were alive. Hold close the way they lived. The vitality of the life they lived. Trust that the occasions shared together were crafted just so. Their soul has completed their business Earthside. Feel and ache as necessary. Dust yourself off, rally, and go live the life you’ve always wanted to live.
I love your paragraph on love. Reminds me of Matt Kahn’s book “Whatever Arises, Love That.” One of my most favorite things to do is tell someone behind a counter how happy I was that they waited on me or that they have a beautiful smile. I don’t know who feels better afterwards! Yes, and trust. Thanks for your insight.
It warms my heart to hear your intentional sprinkles of love! More often than not, the deliberate action turns the day around for someone. I’ve never read any of Matt Khan’s work, but I am an avid reader and will be checking it out soon. Thanks for the book recommendation and your words!