20,000 Breaths a Day

I wear a tattoo on the inside of my forearm,

a skull illustrating a Buddhist remembrance:

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“I am of the nature to die.

There is no way to escape death.”

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Many who see it recoil immediately,

call me morbid, morose, wonder at

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the dichotomy of the inked message

and my easy laugh, joie de vivre,

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the kindness in my eyes.

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But there is less life ahead of me than

there is behind. All the things I have

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accumulated, that I thought were

so important, are meaningless to me now.

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They pale in comparison to the simple joy

of arising before dawn, communing with Spirit,

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being grateful for another day on this glorious

plane of existence. So much beauty all around us!

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We each have the same 1,440 minutes in a day,

86,400 seconds to craft the life we desire.

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Remember what Marcus Aurelius said:

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“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived

your life. Now take what is left

and live it properly.”

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You have 20,000 breaths a day. Make

each

one

count.