In It for Life: Maximizing Longevity
By Tim Lybarger
The tale goes like this…
“Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” said the robin to the dove.
“Why, it weighs nothing more than nothing,” replied the dove.
“In that case,” the robin began, “I must tell you a marvelous story. I was sitting on a branch of a fir tree when snow began to fall… not heavily, not in a raging blizzard — no, just like a dream, delicately and peacefully. I decided to count the snowflakes settling on the needles and twigs of my branch: 3,741,952. Then suddenly, as the next snowflake landed, weighing nothing more than nothing, as you say, the branch broke off.”
With that, the robin flew away.
The dove thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps we are just a snowflake away from achieving peace in the world.”
— by Joseph Jaworski
A Meaningful Life
It is natural in our later years to reflect on things more meaningful than material blessings. Contemplating the end of the runway, we might ask of ourselves, “Did I make a difference?” “Was it worth it to the world for my being here?”
We may seem so small to ourselves, and the world so big. “How could I have changed anything, and can I still leave a meaningful legacy with what is left of my life?”
Yes! Emphatically, yes!
We have already left our print upon the world and there is ample opportunity to continue to do so in even greater measure, if we choose to act.
Over the next several blog posts, I will reaffirm the ways in which we can consciously leave our legacy. It is important work for it will matter to us when we close our eyes one last time.
One Among Many
The little tale about the weight of a snowflake can offer great comfort and encouragement to us – that our lives do matter.
Which do you think was the most important snowflake? The last one? Why?
The last one would have had no effect without the millions that preceded it. Though barely visible in its own right, each snowflake was critical for the role it played in bringing about the sudden change.
Though we may feel invisible and meaningless to the vast world around us, the weight we bring to a chosen mission is essential to the eventual breakthrough that will bring a better world to those who follow us.
I am inspired by the following quote by Reinhold Niebuhr
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime;
therefore, we must be saved by hope.
We may not see the results of our efforts during our own lifetimes, but the results will come.
On which branch would you choose to add your weight? What cause inspires your attention? Who do you wish to help and what problem can you commit to helping them solve?
Settle on it today. The future of the world depends upon it.
Photos courtesy pexels.com
