The Gift Of Life

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine last night, about life. Well, to be more specific, we were talking about the gift of life each living creature has been given. If you really think about the overwhelming odds against life anywhere in the universe, the gift of life is one that is truly extraordinary.

No one knows if the universe is infinitely large, or even if ours is the only universe there is. Although our view of the universe is limited, our imaginations are not. Astronomers have indirect evidence that the universe of galaxies extends far beyond the region we can see. But no one knows if the whole universe is infinitely large - large beyond limit.

... NASA

There are folks who subscribe to the theory of God creating life, breathing life into Adam and Eve; and there are folks who believe life was purely an accidental lab experiment in a primordial soup. And there are people like me who think the truth may be somewhere in between. I like to believe there is a life force in the universe, a Higher Power, as it were. Wouldn't it be too awful to consider, if life on Earth were the only life in the Universe, and we were created by accident? Whatever (or whomever) created life, the very fact of it is a miracle, and each of us has been given this miraculous gift.

It didn't occur to me until my conversation with my friend last night, that most of us don't appreciate the extraordinary gift we have been given. Whether by accident or design, we have been the lucky ones -- the chosen ones -- each and every one of us. As we go about our day-to-day lives, how often do we consider the fact that we have been granted a miracle. How many people are truly happy, every day? We spend so much of our time just taking care of the business of living, do we ever stop, take a deep breath and just think that the very fact that we are here is amazing. I know that is often difficult to do, most of us have so much to worry about. Get a job, earn enough to keep ourselves and our families in food, clothing, a roof over our heads -- perhaps enough money left over for hobbies, sports, vacations. We let the commonplace events of our lives rule our emotions, and sometimes that makes us afraid to live. I am as guilty of that as anyone. I work with people who are so stressed over the most trivial matters, they are ruining their health. They have created a microcosm of a world around them that they feel is eminently important, and they rush around to and fro, to and fro, making themselves ill. "What would this office do without me?" Well, it would go on as it always has, just fine.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

... Mahatma Gandhi

My friend with whom I had the conversation last night is concerned because she feels she is nearing the end of her life. No one knows that for sure. All we really have is today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow has not happened yet. We should learn to savor the moment, to enjoy the "today" of our lives.

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

... Dr. Seuss

And now I am going to sit down and enjoy (savor) a Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate Orange Intense chocolate bar -- just because -- it's a miracle.