Dash.

As we start to wind the year to a close it gets a lot of us thinking about the things we have accomplished the past 365 days. Starting a new job, taking a special trip, remodeling your home, accomplishing a goal, getting that new car, losing weight or maybe even just holding on for one more year. We think of the resolutions made and kept. We think of the resolutions made and not kept. I have started to evaluate my past years resolutions, which is all included in my original blog post when I started this blog almost exactly a year ago. "Make it count" was my "theme" for myself this year and I have worked hard to make it count! Although a lot of the resolutions I made have been kept, I have begun to evaluate those resolutions and their importance in my life. Yes, it is great to strive for goals such as financial success in a career, however there are so many things in life that are so much more important.


This year I went to a funeral for a special person. As I pulled up to the funeral home to show my respects I grew annoyed at the traffic.. Thinking to myself.... "come on people.. I've got places to go, people to see, things to do." Until finally I realized the traffic was from the hundreds of people wrapped around the funeral home in line to show their respects for this special person. How amazing. My heart sank as I realized what an impact this person made on the lives of others. It definitely made me re-evaluate the "important" things on my list... The PEOPLE in my life. No amount of money, fancy cars, clothes, trips or homes could equal the value of the special people in my life. This year I want my resolutions to reflect success in a different area of my life- my relationships with others. I want to really make my "dash" full of love, excitement and happiness all spent with the special people in my life.


The following poem is so true to my point behind this post. How do you spend your dash? Life is way too short to not spend it in the most amazing ways you can think of. Thank each of you for being a very special part of my "dash"!

The Dash

By Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke of the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth

And now only those who love her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

The cars…the house…the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile…

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is read

With your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?