16 Aug Life: Fragile. Short.

There’s a billboard near the NYC Midtown Tunnel that says, “The first person to live to 150 has already been born.” Ultimately ineffective advertising since I can’t remember who it was really for. But I remember the message. Medical advances one by one are eliminating the things that kill us. That is great. Sort of related, the US Government has now apparently admitted the existence of “Area 51,” nerve center for conspiracists who believe we caught aliens and are keeping them there.

But it would seem that new medicines and tips from aliens probably will not end the “circle of life” as so famously depicted in Disney’s The Lion King. I lost a close family member yesterday. She lived a long and happy life but it was still cut down short. It is said that as we age our fear of death subsides. When my family member passed, she was accepting.

The sort of obvious lesson: make the most of the days we have. Think and live positively. Take time for your loved ones and yourself. Work hard for sure. Be ambitious and determined in the working world for sure. But find that balance, that peace. In whatever way works for you. No one on their deathbed ever said, “I wish I spent more time at the office.” For my relative, I am thankful that she lived a full and meaningful life but still very sad to see her pass.