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What Really Matters: Lessons on Mortality, Legacy, and Living While Alive
Reflections on slowing down, letting go, and building a life that lasts beyond you
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As I embark upon middle age, things are changing. I am changing — in some ways for the better and some ways not. Now, the slightest attempt at standing up makes my heart beat so fast and hard. I find myself gasping for air. It’s exhausting. I literally have to talk myself into putting one foot in front of the other and remind myself to keep breathing.
When I feel my heart beat hard and fast, I feel my mortality and vulnerability. And for the first time, I truly understand the gift of not living forever — though I’ve often wished we all could. Knowing there’s an end gives life a different kind of meaning. It shifts everything into perspective.
All the things we spend our lives worrying about, fighting about, holding grudges about — it’s all nonsense. In the end, what matters is who we love, who loves us, and what we did to leave this world better than we found it. As The Pilgrim’s Progress says, “Everything else is vanity.”
We put so much emphasis on temporary things that can disappear in an instant: beauty…
