Life Is A Gift

This week’s post is inspired by a poem that Mother Theresa wrote about life. I am reminded always that life is a gift and how long we get to keep it is unknown.

So when we have something that could be so easily taken away or gone from us, what should be our response?

We have choices to make – either to make the best of the one life that we have or let it slip by without harnessing everything that came with the life. It’s so easy for us to let life slip by without us even paying attention.

I often think of the social media age that we are in, the addiction to gadgets that has been proven to be even worse that most other addictions and how early the next generation is being introduced to them.

It’s no surprise that the attention span of the average person has gone down, children are not always allowed to use their God-given gift of imagination because it’s so much easier to place a gadget in their hands.

With each passing day, the gift of life shrinks just a little bit as we can’t regain or re-spend that day. So it is time for us to be more deliberate and more present in the way we choose to live our lives.

I’m sure we’ve all had days when everything seems to be a blur and we wonder where the day went and what we got done in that day. It happens to the best of us but the question is how do we reduce the number of days that disappear into a blur of nothingness?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for filling every hour of the day with activities. I am merely suggesting that we be more aware of everything that’s going on.

Be more aware of your emotions

Pay attention to how you feel so you can quickly know when your emotions are draining and sucking life out of you.

Then you can proactively take steps to stop your emotions becoming a permanent barrier to you living your best life.

Pay attention to your time management

What is your approach to a new day, week or month? Is it a ‘wake up and wing it’ or is it a ‘planned out’ one. What works for you? You might think your ‘wake up and wing it’ works perfectly and you don’t need to be super organised, so my suggestion is that you look at your results.

Your outputs will tell you whether your inputs and approaches are working. Rather than try to persuade you, I simply ask that you take a hard look and make the decision.

Pay attention to who you choose to spend it with

When something is limited, it inevitably runs out. So when it comes to life, who are you doing it with? Are you with those who will help you make the most of it or those who will lead you to waste it?

Your life is yours to live and you are the one who will one day give an account for it. Don’t let others call the shots especially when you can see that the calls they are making aren’t right for you.

Pay attention to what you spend it on

I love an approach that Steve Jobs described that helped him to know when to change course. He would imagine it was his last day and ask himself whether he would still spend his time on what he was about to do. When the answer was ‘No’ too many times in a row, he knew it was time to change.

Thanks for reading and sharing my post. See you next week and in the meantime, enjoy your life and the poem below.

Life – A poem by Mother Theresa

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is a beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is costly, care for it.

Life is wealth, keep it.

Life is love, enjoy it.

Life is mystery, know it.

Life is a promise, fulfil it.

Life is a sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is Life, fight for it.”