According to Shane’s World 151,650 people die a day. How do you remember them? On a tomb stone they always have the name of the one that died, the inscription the family leaves behind like Beloved Son and Husband, the date of birth and the date of death, but between the dates there is a dash. I think the dash is the most important part of the grave stone. The dash stands for all the years between birth and death. What will people think of when they see the dash on your grave? Will they think you were too obnoxious or will they remember you at all? The choices you make each and every day determine the outcome of the rest of your life. Your choices determine how people see you and how they will remember you. I live by the term your choices determine your destiny. It tells me to think before I act. If everyone in the world thought before they acted we would have less suicides and criminals plus the world would be upside down. You would think more about the long term effects rather than what makes you feel best at the moment. Each choice determines the rest of your life. Will you be known as the one who’s always drunk the one who’s never trustworthy or as the best friend and one that always makes you smile? It’s hard to live your life everyday trying to be perfect so don’t. My favorite quote is from Stephen Manes in her book Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days it says, “Congratulations! You're not perfect! It's ridiculous to want to be perfect anyway. But then, everybody's ridiculous sometimes, except perfect people. You know what perfect is? Perfect is not eating or drinking or talking or moving a muscle or making even the teensiest mistake. Perfect is never doing anything wrong - which means never doing anything at all. Perfect is boring! So you're not perfect! Wonderful! Have fun! Eat things that give you bad breath! Trip over your own shoelaces! Laugh! Let somebody else laugh at you! Perfect people never do any of those things. All they do is sit around and sip weak tea and think about how perfect they are. But they're really not one-hundred-percent perfect anyway. You should see them when they get the hiccups! Phooey! Who needs 'em? You can drink pickle juice and imitate gorillas and do silly dances and sing stupid songs and wear funny hats and be as imperfect as you please and still be a good person. Good people are hard to find nowadays. And they're a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week.”
It may be impossible to be perfect, but when you think your choices determine your destiny you tend to be not just a good person, but a great person. How will you be remembered? What will your dash say about you?
