The Dash

The Dash


When we were created by the hands of the all mighty God he gave us all a certain amount of time to be here. When we die we will have two dates engraved on our headstone, one which will be the date of our birth, the second date will be the date of our departure from this life. However, those dates hold no amount of significance for the life we lived or the legacy we wish to leave behind.There is a dash between the two dates and that dash is rarely recognized but it's the most important thing to remember about us. It is the dash that will enable the minister to eulogize us at our funerals, it is the symbol that will allow our closest friends to give their three minute remarks to share fond memories we once shared.
As I live my life, I notice how so many people live their lives not realizing that the life they live will speak volumes when they leave this earth. Each day that we live we should take the time out to make a difference in the life of someone, one of our daily goals in life should be to wake up and ask ourselves “what difference can I make in the life of another today?” “What kind gesture or kind word can I say to some one who is hurting or going through a difficult time?” Rarely would we have time to concentrate on ourselves or our own hardships because when reaching out to others it not only takes the focus off of your own life, but it also allows one to see just how blessed you truly are. To be blessed with a nice car means nothing if you are not willing to give some one a ride to the grocers or to an appointment, to be blessed with a beautiful home means nothing unless you are willing to take some one in who may need a place to live or somewhere to lay their head if only for a night.
With the economy being the way that it is, it becomes easy to get caught up in the “every man for themselves” theory of today's society. When will it end? When will we pull together as a nation and as a people to go out of our way for the sake of some one else? It is the little things that means the most, it could start with saying a kind word to someone or being there when some one does not want to talk, but rather have you there to do the talking so they can be the listener. Perhaps you can be the listener while someone else needs to talk.
It is not always about the monetary help, there are so many ways to use “the dash” to symbolize the life and the legacy you wish to leave behind. It only takes a minute to make a difference in the life of another. A card, a phone call, any act of kindness towards another can make a difference not only in the life of some one else but also in the life of the one who gives. I will be the first to attest that to help others is very fatiguing, it a very selfless act, at the end of the day when I am fatigued I reflect on the deeds that I have done. It is through that feeling of fatigue that I know I have made a difference.
It is not our date of birth that will be most remembered, nor the date that we depart from this life. The true topic of discussion among our friends and family when we depart from this life will be be those years in between those years symbolizing... “The Dash”.