Choices

I don't generally watch the news. Mostly because I seldom watch TV,and I work until 8pm, but there is also something to be said for the depressing nature of the majority of mainstream news stories. But today I found myself at home, with no internet (it's a new house and we are still waiting...as patiently as one can in this world of me and now!) and a poor selection of channels to surf. So I stumbled across an early news broadcast and thought I might as well see what was happening out there in the world. One short news article later, I was done and thoroughly dejected. The story was about how the body of an elderly woman was discovered in her home. Eight years after she had been deceased. Eight years and no one had missed her.

The thought that someone can live a lifetime, die and not be missed is not just depressing, but truly hideous. Sadly it says a lot about the way she lived her life, and about the way our society takes care of each other. Or to be more blunt- doesn't take care of each other.

How does one live to be almost in their eighties and not have anyone notice their death? It gets me worried. I mean, potentially this could happen to me. It won't obviously, because I am Miss Awesome, but Miss Sucky is freaking out just a smidge! What made this woman get to her 79th year and not have a friend or family member in all the world to check up on her? How could she have spent all those years on this earth and be forgotten?

None of us want to be forgotten. We want to leave an indelible mark on at least one person. Well I know I do! I feel so sad for this poor woman who must have lived as she died...alone. I don't know the circumstances surrounding her death or her life, but can only imagine that it must have been a lonely existence if she lay there on her bedroom floor, decaying for eight years and no one was any the wiser. It is a powerful lesson in how tragic life is when we live only for ourselves.

So my thought for today is this: To live a life that matters. Not just to me but to those around me. Life is not about closing yourself off to the world and shutting people out. I know what it's like to want to walk away from humanity. I have been so deeply wounded at times that I have considered becoming a hermit. I'm totally serious, which for those that know me would think a ridiculous notion and one that I would be incapable of sticking too. It is true that I am a social butterfly and I thrive with human contact but I understand the sometimes insatiable need to run away from all things human because sometimes the world is a dark and scary place. It's a defense mechanism to withdraw from people when we are hurting. Life hurts sometimes. It really does. Life creates pain and chaos and sometimes etches deep wounds into our hearts and minds. But to pull away from people, from all that this world has to offer us because of pain, creates a mentality of victimization and cultivates hearts that were never meant to grow hard. We do ourselves a disservice by sounding a long term retreat.

We know nothing about this woman's life. I don't know why she had no family or friends or even neighbors that noticed she was missing from their lives. What a lonely existence she must have forged for herself. One where she belonged nowhere and to no one. As a single woman it gives me pause to think. But I know that her fate need not be my own, nor be any ones destiny. Life is a series of choices. I choose to live life. I choose to make people an important part of my life. I choose to not be a victim but to take the knocks and curve balls and pain and become a better Miss Awesome. Life is not a game but it does require activate participation. I choose to participate. How about you?