I wanted to wish everyone a healthy and happy Memorial Day weekend! Thank you to all the military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the United States Armed Forces. We are blessed to have the greatest military in the whole world!
Memorial Day is considered to be the first unofficial weekend of Summer, and for the first time since the pandemic lockdown began in March of 2020, it appears that Americans are getting ready to celebrate....I know this because the 405 freeway was bumper to bumper with camper vans, mini vans, sprinter vans, and other ginormous people-haulers, as folks head out for some well-deserved normalcy.
It has been a tough 14 months. We are currently at 590,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States and we will undoubtedly cross the 600,000 mark this summer. As we head out to celebrate Memorial Day weekend, make sure you do your best to remember that life is precious and fleeting. Honor those who have lost their lives in service, or by disease, or by all the random tragedies that remind us that we should never take a single day for granted, and go LIVE your LIFE!
Take off your sweatpants and turn off Netflix, and go honor those who have fallen before us, by using your time left on this Earth. Make the most of it! Go see a National Park. Visit a a loved one you fell out of touch with when the pandemic began. See a movie and have dinner out (and copious amounts of wine) with friends. Rescue an elderly cat....okay I can't fake that....I am not a huge fan of cats....rescue an elderly dog and give Fido the best retirement a pup can have. Just celebrate the lives of those we have lost by choosing to live YOUR life again.
I love the American writer, Jack London. I love the great outdoors and adventures in nature, so London's writing has always "called" to me.....the pun was definitely intended there! If you don't know what I am talking about, then you definitely need to read more. But I stray.....
There is a quote attributed to London that supposedly is the credo he lived by. The legend is that London spoke these words a few months before his death at some party with friends. It remains my favorite quote of all time:
"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." - Jack London
If this credo doesn't speak to you after the year we have collectively had, then I am pretty sure you are an alien from another planet that wasn't pummeled by COVID-19.
In honor of Memorial Day, I challenge you to go blaze like a meteor and live your life to the fullest, both for yourself and for those whose lights burned out prematurely.
