Truly Living

Yesterday's daily meditation from Answers in the Heart was too good to not post:

• MAY 29 •
Mere survival is an affliction. What is of interest is life, and the direction of that life. — Guy Fregault

There are people who, when you ask them how they are, will say automatically, “I’m surviving.” They say it with a bright, brave smile, as though they’ve battled tremendous odds and come through, bloody but unbowed. Life is a grim, unfair business, they seem to imply. But in reality, their lives seem easy and secure. Others with real problems — illness in the family, financial worries, job insecurity — might greet you with a smile and bring to the simplest exchange an energy and a liveliness that sends you away refreshed. Such people have the gift of life and share it abundantly. Like the ninety-seven-year-old woman with thirty-nine great-grandchildren who greets each one of them by name and has a story and a joke for every one of them. She lives in their memory as a force of love and vitality. Her immortality is there, in the love her family bears her. Each day can bring as many joys as sorrows. When we are patient and find the courage to invest the best of ourselves, we can truly live rather than just survive.

I’m able to reach out and contribute to the richness of life. I can bring energy to those around me.