The Dash Poem

A wonderful poem to motivate you for a new year...

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 loved her know
What that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matter 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?

— Linda Ellis

Duality of the Soul: Mini Thoughts

In every story there is a protagonist and an antagonist. The good always wins the bad.

The knight slays the dragon, the angel beats the demons, the good old office guy gets the girl instead of the evil used-to-be popular hunk. But probably not in this one.

I've learnt from a certain man that sometimes, you fight the bad guy for so long, you end up becoming the bad guy who realises he was so wrong. Maybe a demon wasn't always a demon, maybe an angel wasn't always an angel. Things happen and people change.

And I guess, that's not too bad.

Plot Twists: Mini Thoughts

Nowadays, plot twists have become so cliche that you even have to plot twist a plot twist. It seems people never really talk about the normal things that most people experience: the harsh reality of life. The reality that sometimes people don't change for the better. The reality that sometimes you weren't meant to be with someone.

The reality that he's not that person who would miraculously recover from his illness.