August 31st, 2007

Lessons of Life … and Death.

Celebrate life and cherish the memories of our loved ones

In the last two weeks, I have attended three memorial services - one for a dear friend, one for a friend’s father, and one for a friend’s grandmother.

These have been poignant, moving and timely reminders of the sanctity, sacredness and also fragility of our lives. As one of the people delivering a brief eulogy stated, let us not mourn the passing of a dear one, but instead let us celebrate their life.

However, hard as one may try, it is still very sad and painful when a loved one departs. At such times, we all have to be strong and remember the good moments.

Also, key during a period of mourning is to remember that everything changes. On this note, a friend sent me one of those inspirational emails which do the rounds and every now and then is a gem of wisdom:-

I feared being alone until I learned to like myself.

I feared failure until I realized that I only fail when I don’t try.

I feared success until I realized that I had to try in order to be happy with myself.

I feared people’s opinions until I learned that people would have opinions about me anyway.

I feared rejection until I learned to have faith in myself.

I feared pain until I learned that it’s necessary for growth.

I feared the truth until I saw the ugliness in lies.

I feared life until I experienced its beauty.

I feared death until I realized that it’s not an end, but a beginning.

I feared my destiny, until I realized that I had the power to change my life.

I feared hate until I saw that it was nothing more than ignorance.

I feared love until it touched my heart, making the darkness fade into endless sunny days.

I feared ridicule until I learned how to laugh at myself.

I feared growing old until I realized that I gained wisdom every day.

I feared the future until I realized that life just kept getting better.

I feared the past until I realized that it could no longer hurt me.

I feared the dark until I saw the beauty of the starlight.

I feared the light until I learned that the truth would give me strength.

I feared change, until I saw that even the most beautiful butterfly had to undergo a metamorphosis before it could fly.

Category: Celebration, Get the Life you Love

1 Comment so far

  1. Arvind Devalia » The day Diana died August 31st, 2007 1:10 pm

    [...] rather than focusiing on the way a person died, we should celebrate their life and learn the lessons they taught [...]

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