Make life happen

Life is good but life is short.  With all of the death I've heard of or experienced recently, I'm beginning to realize just how true that it.  Just last month, a former high school classmate died after being involved in a motorcycle accident.  He was 42.

I wish I knew how long I would be on this earth.  I wish I knew when God destined to bring me home to Him.  The fact is I don't know and I never will until the time when I am called home.  Its scary to think I have no control over this.  I have no say in where or when or how. 

Dylan Thomas wrote "Do not go gentle into that good night,  old age should burn and rage at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.  Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they do not go gentle into that good night."  Does that mean we should fight death?  That we should tell God when we feel our time is up?  Not at all.  At least that's not how I read it. 

I was given one chance - one life with which to do something.  Anything.  Do I use it to sit on the couch and watch the parade go by from the window?  Do I try to discover a cure for cancer?  Do I venture out into the great big world?  Do I raise conscientious kids to be environmentally aware? Do I wait for something to happen?  Do I smile at the one person who needs it most and maybe save his/her life by one simple gesture?

All of these are possible for me.  I have done some, I will do others and I can still help with others.  That's was great about life.  The possibilities are endless.  When I look down a tunnel, I tend to see only the darkness and not the long stretch of road that has no limits.  I limit myself. 

As I await God's plan for my life, its time to do something.  I have decided to make something happen at least once each year.  This year, I will go to Ireland/Scotland in July.  I have never crossed the Atlantic Ocean and the idea of it scares me but it will be an adventure I will never forget.  I have also wanted to visit every state at least once in my lifetime so its time to make that happen as well.  I have at least 10 states under my belt but have a long way to go.  With friends in Florida, Texas and North Carolina, I have even more reasons.   

Life happens whether we want it to or not.  Time to get moving.  Life is for the living and I ain't dead yet.