Don’t Let Your Life Pass You By

There are a few common things that humans seem to crave: love, security and remembrance. We all want to be loved. We all want and need security of some sort. And we all want to be remembered. The first two are pretty self-explanatory. The third can be a little tricky, though.

Remembrance? How? Why? Some people want to leave their mark on the world. Some people hope to be remembered by those they loved. So I was thinking about this. This time of year always brings up these kinds of thoughts for me; it’s the median time period for the deaths of my parents. Just recently I “celebrated” the anniversary of my mother’s death and the anniversary of my father’s is in two weeks. They are remembered.

If I died tomorrow, I don’t know that I would be remembered. When I thought about that, it just hit me. Then, of course, I started playing a soundtrack in my head. It seems like everything in life has a song. This one was “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan. Very appropriate, huh? One line in the song hits a nerve “don’t let your life pass you by.” Wow.

I know I want to be remembered positively. I would like to be remembered one day for my good heart and my ability to create something beautiful. There are other things I would like to be remembered for as well, but I’m definitely not willing to open up to the world that much here. Gotta keep some secrets. So I guess my goal is to work on being remembered.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Image via Wikipedia

Today is a day to remember a man who set out to change America. He was an amazing man who lived and died for a cause. I wish that he had never had to fight for something that should have been his right. I truly believe that “all men (women) are created equal.” I don’t think color should matter. It saddens me that we even had that period of time in our country. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not a saint but he was a great orator. He was a man who fought for his beliefs. He was loud and proud about his beliefs and sat in jail cells to prove it.

I was not alive during his lifetime but I heard stories from my mother. We lived in the state where a lot of the fight for civil rights happened, Alabama. We may have been white, but it was part of our history as well because our home state was involved. While I am usually proud of the state of Alabama, that is something I am not proud of. When I hear stories of Rosa Parks, I am proud, though. She must have been terrified and so brave at the same time.

Right now I am listening to the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. King. It’s powerful. His voice, his words, his message. It is amazing to see how many people “walked” on Washington, D.C. in order to hear him. His speech is inspiring. I wish that everyone shared his dream. I wish his dream was truly realized today. It has made such progress, but it has not been completely fulfilled. But it can be. Maybe it just takes a very long time for a dream to come to fruition.

Dr. King said, “I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” He was killed by a coward while he was fighting for his beliefs. It’s sad that his words were so prophetic.

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