My Dash

I have attended more funerals this year than I'm really comfortable with. Is this the stage of life I'm at? Will I keep losing people more and more frequently? I hate that thought. I hate goodbyes. But I have to admit that there is something about the services that makes me walk away and do a quick audit of ... me. I've heard the poem "The Dash" by Linda Ellis read a couple times this year and think it's a good reminder. It begins like this:

"I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth."

How am I spending my dash? I need to slow down and meet more people. (I have wallflower tendencies) I need to build better and stronger relationships. I need to serve more. I need to give more. I need to love more. I want to make a difference in someone's life. November is a season of plenty and thanks, now ... I may not be excelling in the 'plenty' department, I am more than capable of giving thanks. Tomorrow the youth in our ward are making stockings to send to servicemen overseas. We've been invited to write thank you notes to put in them. I'll start there. How are you spending your dash?