The Meaning of Life

My neighbor passed away yesterday.  She was my age, which I consider to be young still.  She died of breast cancer, and left behind her husband, two older sons, a dog and kitty.  It came on suddenly last year, and ended quickly for her.  I got to thinking about my own mortality early this morning as I woke and couldn't fall back to sleep fast enough.  As sad and tragic as it is, I have very few regrets in my life.  But one of them would be, if I had to pick a recent one, is that I never got to know this woman.  We live our lives surrounded by people, the same people day after day, and we rarely ever know them.  We have our co-workers, our neighbors, the guy at the liquor store, the girl who checks me out at Wegmans on a usual basis (checks my groceries out!), and sometimes it our own family members, especially in step family situations.  And then they pass, and you think.... if only I had done this, or done that.   Life is now, and we always have a choice, do we drown in regret over what never came to be, or use our energy to create what can be? Today, I am choosing the latter.

Consider this:

A dying insect on its back.
A human sees it as suffering.
But it moves his legs not by suffering, but of joy.

Like a baby.

It wants to live.
It knows not that it will end.

If it knew: the movement would stop.
But why the joy?

Back to another reality...  and to end that thought, I do not regret the path I've chosen in trying to save and soothe the homeless cats of Rochester.  A spay here, a neuter there, daily feeding, and trying to earn their trust, picking up a dead cat here, and rescuing a cat there - its a wonderful feeling to know you've made a difference, even if no one else notices.

Have a wonderful day.