The Preciousness- and Tenuousness- of Life

I began writing this on Sept. 11, a day that will probably always remind us of the tenuousness of life.  I hope it will also remind us of the preciousness of it as well.

In the past couple weeks, two Facebook memes have really stuck with me.  The first  speaks to the preciousness of life in asking the question, "What if, when we die, God asks, 'So, how was heaven?". This thought reminds me of the Japanese spiritual practice, Johrei, which was my primary path for over a decade.  The mission of Johrei is for all to live in Paradise on Earth, a place of health, peace, and prosperity in this lifetime - no having to wait for an unknown afterlife.  It is the notion of this life as our heaven.  I find that even just sitting in this possibility helps me to look for the blessings of each and every day.

The other meme served as a wake-up call around the tenuousness of life.  It shared about asking a woman with a terminal illness, "What's it like to live each day knowing that you are dying?". This wise woman answered, "What's it like to live each day pretending as though you are not?". Again, another reminder to look for the blessings and the gift because none of us will be here forever.

How we connect to life varies for pretty much all of us on a day-to-day basis.  Sometimes we are in awe of getting to live a human life - to love, to eat, to dance, to get angry, to hurt, to deal with everything life brings us.  Other times the notion of dealing with everything that life brings us just feels like too much.  Those days sometimes the best we can do is ascribe to the notion of "do no harm" - to ourselves or others.

It is important to remember that however life is feeling to us at any given moment, it is still a gift.  It is always a gift.  Unwrap it.  Play with it. Love it.  Most of all, be grateful for it.