~~~VIEWING THE END FROM NOW***

Hmm….. na wa o ………………..
That is the response of most of us, when we receive news of the demise of someone, especially someone whom we are close to. Weeping and wailing when someone that is dear to us die is something that is inevitable just as death itself. The trail of tears that rolls down the cheek is a necessary means of expressing our grief. The greatest solace we can ever get after our grief, are the good deeds of the deceased while alive. It doesn’t really matter, what relationship we had or how close we were. What matters is the positive impact which the deceased made in our lives.

Amongst all those whom we’ve lost at one point in time or the other, there are those whom we will forever keep a memory of, while all others have been forgotten since after our period of grief. It is an inevitable fact that we all will die someday. So, it is of great necessity that we endeavor to live a life that matters because; it is the fortitude which those who will be left bereaved will forever need to bear the loss.

Someone who lives an irrelevant lifestyle will end up causing his friends and family what I call ‘double grief’. Firstly, they will be grieved by the person’s demise and secondly, they will be grieved by the shame which the irrelevant lifestyle of the deceased will bring upon them.

We all hope for long life, but the precious gift of living a long life is not a guarantee to anyone. There were so many who had faith and were very prayerful but their lives were still cut short unexpectedly. That they died doesn’t imply God didn’t love them or we are more holy than they were. However, no matter how long we live, it is still a brief lifetime. So, it will be wise if we choose to live a life that matters.

Many times, people have talked about writing their names on the sands of time but, that is easy to be washed away. It will be better for us to write our names in the history book of humanity (by writing it on the minds of people both within our reach and far from our reach). We must strive to live the kind of life that will earn us the respect of intelligent people.

One sad thing that can happen to any man even after his death is, his biography being filled with lies (things he wasn’t & those he didn’t do). Sighs will be flying all over the funeral arena from guests during the reading of the biography! Read a brief story about the saddest funeral I have ever heard of, written by Rev. Robert H. Schuller. He says;

“The saddest funeral I ever conducted as a pastor was for a wealthy man who had not a single mourner at his funeral. His three adult sons lived in the community but did not attend. I have never had an experience like it before or since. Only the mortician and I were there! When I asked for an explanation, the funeral director said, “All he wanted was to make more money and acquire selfish toys. He didn’t have time for his children. He had no time for his wife. He had no time or money to share with the church or the social charities. He hit it lucky in the stock market! But he died an extremely sick and lonely man. In fact the doctors say his loneliness brought on his early death!”

A lot of us may want to distant ourselves from this man’s lifestyle, but the truth is, he didn’t just get there, the ‘little’ things he neglected on a daily basis got him there! Let us realize that for everyday we live, we are writing our biography. More consciousness therefore needs to be put into the things we do & those we tend to neglect because, if we don’t, we could be writing a biography of lies while we are still alive!

Have you ever wondered why a statement of bank account is not stated in biographies? The cars the deceased drove, is it being stated? What about the houses he owned, the stocks/shares, the vacations he had, are they being stated? These are the things the entire world seems to be busy with and at the end we don’t want to include them in our tributes (We finally realize they were only accessories to an ultimate goal!) All we want to be stated is how life was made better for others through us & how we served God! What matters then is no longer the neighborhood in which we lived but how we lived with our neighbors! What matters then is not the vehicle we drove in but how many people we ‘transported’ to better places in life! What will matter then isn’t whether you studied at home or abroad but was the society any better because of you studied? What will matter isn’t whether you were a man of success but were you a man of value? Questions you have to answer for yourself!

We are all from different backgrounds and we all have different ambitions and this article is not to say whose ambitions are right or wrong, no! This is just to call our attention to the fact that through our daily activities on earth, we are already writing our biographies. What are we writing in there? Do we want it to be read? If no, then we need to make some adjustments and begin to live a life that matters.

To live a life that matters doesn’t happen by chance but, by choice. The time to live a life of relevance that will place a tribute on the lips of all those who knew us or heard about our good deeds, even long after we’ve passed away, is now! Ever since I picked up a pen and wrote what I would like my biography & tributes (Personal Mission Statement) to look like, I am not moved an inch by the happenings in the world, my heart seriously longs towards making those words I penned down becoming an undisputed reality after I pass on. Those words have the power of bringing me out from my mess each time I review them. They are my life guide!

I suggest you take out a few minutes in the early hours of the day and picture what you would like your biography/tribute to be, then assess yourself to see if your life activities are geared towards making it an undisputed reality! Don’t ignore this if you really want to live a life that matters!
God help us!
Maple Dappa T.