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How Do You Spend Your Dash?

I got inspired by this poem. I first encountered this in one of our class in Charles Hartshorne’s Process Thought emphasizing the “lived experience” itself, the life journey, the life process as most significant in the person. This is but a call and a challenge to live and love NOW while one still can.

THE DASH

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 the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years (1940–1996)

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved 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’ve 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 being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

©1996 Linda Ellis

About me

brodiz

Location:
Calamba, Laguna, Philippines

I am a pilgrim by life's occupation, an accountant by bachelor's degree, a Tarlaqueño by place of birth, a Salesian by specific vocation, a teacher by profession, a student by formation, a writer by passion, a youth minister by life's mission, a son of God... My Philosophy of Life: "To be is to become" "To be is to hope"

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