Life & Leisure

Remembering The Good

 
 
Today is All Soul’s Day.
 
I went to the cemetery yesterday morning with my family. We went to visit my husband’s  relatives on his father’s side that have passed on.
 
As I looked around, I saw how much effort we Filipinos put into remembering our dead. I could see tents with people who have stayed the night before, a few people burning incense and others cleaning their beloved’s stone tablet .

Begin with the End in Mind

 
I begun to think about death. Was I afraid to die? Certainly. But I think it is more of having a lot of regrets when I die or leaving people behind versus actual dying. I’m afraid of not reaching my potential before I die. I fear being separated from my loved ones. I am afraid for my husband and child not having me in their lives, of my child growing up without a mother. And being a burden to my family if I were gravely ill. Those are scarier thoughts than death to me.
 
A few years back, I read Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly effective people. The first habit was “ Begin with the End in Mind”. In an exercise, the author encouraged his reader to imagine his or her own funeral. What would people say about you? What would your spouse say in the eulogy? friend? co-worker? neighbor?
 
I also remember a question I had to answer back in call center training. The question was, “If you were to die tomorrow, why not today?” I said, “Because today I get to say goodbye to my family. Get to pend a day with them. And I get to hug them close and kiss them”
 
As we pay tribute to the lives of those who have gone before us, let us not forget that today is a gift. We are living in borrowed time and today we get to love more, be more compassionate, more giving and live more. Hopefully, one day, people will also remember the good in us.

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9 Comments

  1. I love this book but I haven't thought about it in a while. That statement, beginning with the end in mind, is inspirational but very sobering at the same time. Thank you for the mind food!

  2. S. Covey is a fave author. Love that book as well.

    When we visited our dearly departed last Nov 1, there were a number of tents as well and most of those people stayed for the night. I believe it will always be part of Filipinos culture to care for their relatives even in the after life.

  3. When I was still single, I'm not afraid to die so I go everywhere and try to do some adventurous things. But now that I'm a mom, it is one of my fears, paano na sila pag nawala ko. But like you said, we are living a borrowed time, only God knows when it is our time.

  4. I always remind myself of this whenever I'm not focused in my priorities. It reminds me of how to give importance to life and people.

  5. Death is a deep thought to ponder. The more I think about it the more I fear for my love ones. Worrying however leads us nowhere good, so rather than worrying about death is the thought of thinking of our everyday as a blessing to be thankful for and cherish.

  6. I also think about this, where do we actually go when we die? True to that that we are not really afraid of dying because all of us will go there, time is the only difference. It is the fear of leaving someone behind and not doing all the things that you want before you actually die.

  7. This is such a great reminder. Today is indeed important. We have to be in the moment and learn to appreciate it because we don't know if we will still have tomorrow.

  8. Hi Madz! This is a lovely post. I lost my dad when I was still in college, and since then, it made me realize that we really are living in borrowed time. Sometimes, I still forget to make the most out of the present, but I'm trying to be mindful.

    Nina Sogue | http://www.ninasogue.com

  9. Your thoughts made me smile. 🙂 I agree, we'd like to be remembered as a good person when time comes that our Creator has finally called us to join Him. Sino ba ang hindi? Hehe. But for now, since we're the ones alive and we're the ones who still have the chance to do earthly things, let's just make the most of everyday, diba? 🙂 Life is a borrowed gift, I think. Our lives still belong to God. 🙂

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