Continue the story and be alive

I often remind myself that life is not a competition to be won, especially when others seem to remind me they have it better than I do. No one wins at life simply because they have a better paying job than someone else, bought a home first, added another degree to their resume, or simply just does something before anyone else. It just doesn’t work that way.

But life IS a race. It’s not a race with winners or losers, but simply a distance marathon that each of us must run, being cheered on by spectators who have already done this leg of the journey. It’s a book to be written chapter by chapter, line by line, adventure by adventure. It is a step by step daily grind that we all must go through.

And often, we get to choose what stories are in there.

This past weekend in the United States, Memorial Day was celebrated. It is a time to reflect on the memories of those who were lost in battle, but it’s also a time to reflect on those who were lost over the course of the year. For me, I had a moment to reflect on the friendships I had with both Margo and Leona, two wonderful women who cheered me on in this leg of my journey, both of whom have had their stories ended though their legacies still remain. It gets me to thinking of others in the past year who I have known who are no longer here…. of Brian and Jim, Diana and Charlene and Daniel and others I cannot bring to mind at this moment…. those who may have only traveled in the outer circles of my own life but who meant so much to the stories of others.

In this time of stories and unfinished works, remembrances and memorials, let us find ways to be peace and love, joy and hope, light and magic. May we not just focus on writing our own story, but live it as well, so that we may say we had a life well lived and a story well written. Let us run the race, our goal being the finish line that stands before us, but our minds also on living out the life we are writing as well.

Did you know that the Greek word for remembrance (ἀνάμνησις or anamnesis) also means to reenact or to replicate? The idea of remembering someone also means to reenact the legacy that they had created so that they continue the story they lived out long after their words were completed.

“When I die, I’ll know I didn’t just live
I was alive, I’ll know I didn’t just live
I was a person that you were proud of
Took chances, didn’t doubt ’em
No need to fear the end
‘Cause I’ll know I didn’t just live
I was alive, live”

~ Beartooth “I Was Alive”

In living out our own lives, we also need to look at the unfinished works that were left behind by those who ended their stories mid-sentence. We need to pick up the baton, as it were, and keep going, keep running, keep living and doing and being as those who have gone on before witness it.

Whether it is continuing to spread the word about the scholarship that helps the children of immigrants achieve their post secondary dreams….

Or sharing the achievements of that local musician one loved so much……

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A post shared by Teri 🌹 Underhill (@kingrosalani)

Or preparing the recipes and meals others lovingly crafted over and over again so that their legacy continues…..

Or supporting those that need extra help in memory of ones who did it before….

Press ahead, going where those who have gone could not go. Keep running, keep writing, keep working on the work that was not finished. Don’t just mourn and remember, live out the legacy. And remember that cloud of witnesses that went on before.

Continue your own story. Reenact the legacies of others. And don’t just live….. be alive. It’s the best way to honor the memories of those who went on before.

Stay magical.

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