“Make the most of the best and the least of the worst.” Robert Louis Stephenson.

Sadly, I have had to attend a couple of funerals over the past couple of months. Whilst they are sad and sober occasions, they do provide the opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for someone’s life. Recently, since attending the funerals, a phrase that has been running around my head is “life is precious”. I therefore decided to write a piece on this theme.

Death is part of the natural cycle of life and inevitably at some point we all have to cope with the loss of people close to us. We also know that one day our own life will come to end. When we suffer the loss of people from our family and network, it provides us with an opportunity to pause, reflect and think about what is important in our life.

It always occurs to me at such times, that people just before they die probably don’t say to themselves I wish I had worked longer hours! I’m sure they don’t sweat the small stuff and think about their to do lists, the frustration of traffic jams or the number of unanswered e mails in their inbox.

It’s a good opportunity for us to remind ourselves of our greatest priorities and to do our best to lead a healthy lifestyle so that we can make the best of our life. I believe it’s important to respect the gift of life. By this I mean to make the most of the talents and gifts that we have been given and aim to fulfill our potential. It also helps to ensure that we do what we can to help others and make a positive contribution to society.

It also provides us with a reminder to forgive ourselves and others quickly and to not hold onto bad feeling or let petty disagreements grow and get larger. It can nudge us to let go of negative energy and unnecessary worry and anxiety.

Whilst sad, a loss of this nature may give us a bit of a wake up call. It may get us to think about what we would like to achieve and experience in our life and provide some added motivation to take steps to accomplish our desires.

A friend once asked me when he was feeling dissatisfied with the state and direction of his life what I would write on his tombstone to sum up his legacy and achievements. I said to him that whilst I would answer the question honestly, it was more important for him to get clarity on what he would like to see written about him.

I explained that once he was clear about what he wanted people to say about his contribution, qualities and his legacy, he could set about being the type of person that justified such words. If he walked his talk that would more than likely be the legacy that he left behind.

Interestingly, just prior to sitting down to write this piece I read a short story about Albert Schweitzer (1865-1965) in Life’s Greatest Lessons by Hal Urban.

Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian service and is known for the phrase “reverence for life”. One of the things that he struggled with for many years was the formation of a philosophy that captured the meaning of life.

In his autobiography, he tells the story of making a slow and difficult 160 mile trip on a small steamer up an African river in 1915: “Late on the third day, at the very moment when, at sunset, we were making our way through a herd of hippopotamuses, there flashed upon my mind, unforeseen and unsought, the phrase: “reverence for life.”

The following day, whilst still on the boat and alone with his thoughts, he defined this phrase for which he’s now known. He wrote “it means that life itself is sacred and our duty is to cherish it.”

Schweitzer believed that too many people go through life without ever thinking about its meaning and value. He viewed life as a great gift that needed to be treasured and respected. Then, he said “we can raise it to its true value.” On this theme it’s vital that we celebrate who we are as people and appreciate the people closest to us and not just what we own.

One of the great mysteries of life is that none of know when our life is going to end. Therefore it’s important we make every moment of our life count. It’s incumbent on us to respect and appreciate the gift of life, to get out and enjoy it.

This week, why not take a few moments out to reflect and consider if there are any changes you would like to make to your life to ensure that you make every moment count.

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