Daily Prompt: Success!

What is a life well lived to you?

This topic feels familiar… Hmmnnn heck yeah it is! I think I’ve written a hundred things about it in school for essay writing contests, reflection papers and class speeches. I talked about what a tragedy it is how people would march from birth to their deathbeds without making an ounce of difference in this world… How many lives and talents have gone to waste because of selfishness, apathy and procrastination. I was a nursing student so I’d drone on and on about how Catholic Vincentian nurses are heroes in their own right – about how we may not have superpowers to save all of mankind but at least we get to save a life for every hour that we put into our tedious, highly-stressful, physically exhausting routine… and that everyone should strive to be the same. And yes while it may be true and that nurses really are something special, the truth is I was only saying all those things to get some A’s. Of course, that was what everybody wanted to hear. And now I face again this question for Daily Prompt and I’m not in school anymore… No teachers. No grades. No bullshit.

A few things I’ve realized:

1) We can’t all be in the health care field.
2) One really can’t help but be selfish.
3) There are simply times when you just don’t, couldn’t and shouldn’t give a damn.
4) Making a decision to do something – easier said than done.

So what’s my answer now?

I think a life well lived is simply doing whatever it is that you do to the best of your capabilities. If you’re a firefighter, a soldier, a bus driver, a nun or a stripper – break a leg, every single time. If you’re a writer, be sure to write like a motherfucker. Whatever you do, just be the best you.

I believe that a life well lived doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be a saint , feed the lepers and give every last cent that you own to the needy. After all, you need to be happy too and it’s a fact of life that sometimes you do need to be selfish in order to be happy. But when you do become happy, let it be not on the expense of others. And if you can’t do any good, then at least, try your very best to do no harm. We may hurt people along the way; it’s inevitable. What’s important is your willingness to set things right.

Lastly, and quite possibly the most important one for me, a life well lived is one where you have loved. Ok, maybe being with other people may not be your cup of tea but you have got to love something! Start a romance with the world… Fall in love with music… Fall in love with writing… Fall in love with your dog for all I care. But you have got to LOVE at least one thing… at least once… coz once you do, that’s when you can really say that you’ve lived.

Y’all don’t have to listen to me; I’m no life guru , lol! but that’s just it – that’s my master plan. I’m gonna live my life with reckless abandon where my happiness comes first and foremost. But I shall practice my freedom with consideration for others… use my talents for good , occasionally create blunders but strive to correct them as I go along. And who knows, maybe I can leave this world making it a little better – or at least not any worse – than I have found it.

- kz ^^

“Journey quietly on your pathway to forever with charity & a smile. When you depart it will be said by all that your legacy was a better world than the one you found.”

—Og Mandino, The Gift of Acabar

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