Right Effort
My step dad (the most wonderful man in the world) entered my life less than 18 months after he exited it. In that time, he restored my faith that there are Nobel gentlemen of integrity. He and my mom got married in late September and took a honeymoon in late October. Two days after they returned (on November 1st) my mom got out of bed and opened their windows overlooking a fabulous view into the national park system they lived on the edge of, and he said “What a BEAUTIFUL November morning” after which he drew in a deep breath and slumped over on his side dead.
It was completely unexpected and my mom (and I) were in shock. At his funeral I kept looking at his giant poster he had in his house so that you could see it no matter what room you were in. It was a copy of “Life’s Little Instructions” and the one that my eyes kept returning to was “Leave everything a little better than you found it.” I smiled, knowing that he left so many things better than he found it. Including me.
No, we never know when death will find us. We never know when we’ll step out of the vehicle we have been using our entire incarnation and into….something else. But since then, I’ve been working to make sure that if THIS day is MY day…I’ll be satisfied with the way I’ve lived my life, and my efforts. Right effort…one of the Nobel Eight Fold Path.
