As 2024 approaches, it’s time for me to put my intentions out there and to use this post to inspire me to keep them throughout the year.
I’m using The Dash by Linda Ellis as my foundation for my approach and adding this to it: I would like my life’s actions of 2024 that will be rehashed through my dash to be filled with reminders of gratitude and reflecting on where my many but often ignored intuitive hunches took me as I am concentrating on delving into them as they present themselves without question and actually seeing where they go for my biggest change this year.
Read the poem and tell me what stands out to you and how you plan on filling your dash this upcoming year.
The Dash by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.
He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own --
the cars...the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.
So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering this special dash
might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?
