“You may be familiar with Thornton Wilder’s classic drama Our Town. If you are, you will remember the town of Grover’s Corners, where the story takes place. In the play Emily Webb dies in childbirth, and we read of the lonely grief of her young husband, George, left with their four-year-old son. Emily does not wish to rest in peace; she wants to experience again the joys of her life. She is granted the privilege of returning to earth and reliving her 12th birthday. At first it is exciting to be young again, but the excitement wears off quickly. The day holds no joy now that Emily knows what is in store for the future. It is unbearably painful to realize how unaware she had been of the meaning and wonder of life while she was alive. Before returning to her resting place, Emily laments, “Do human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?”” (Thomas S. Monson, 2008)
Have you ever been sitting in class and found that you were daydreaming about being somewhere else? How often do we wish the week would be over so we could enjoy the weekend? Don’t most high school students yearn for time to fly by so they can enjoy summer break? It seems like we spend a significant portion of our life waiting for some future event or time when life will somehow be more blissful than it presently is. Somehow we almost want to skip through today with the hope that tomorrow will be more exciting, more fun, more enjoyable etc. What we might not realize though, is that we don’t need to waste today in the hope that tomorrow will be better. The only part of our life we really have any control over is the present. Tomorrow will come surely enough, and while it is important that we makes plans for the future, it must not be to the extent that we ignore the wonderful gifts that God has given us with each breath of each day.
I’ve always felt that where you go or what you do, is never as important as who you are with. Some of my favorite memories as a teenager weren’t family vacations, but working together in the yard. When I think back to my days in high school, it surprisingly isn’t summer vacation I remember most, but the everyday interactions and experiences with my classmates. Though as a missionary we yearn for nothing more than to see an investigator be baptized, the deep and personal love we feel for that investigator comes not the evening they are dressed in baptismal clothes, but along the path in which they personally come to know their Savior, Jesus Christ. Life is about the journey, not the destination. All milestones we pass are just another part of the path we call life. Some experiences seem unforgettable, others more common, but as my sister once said: “No part of your life is worth skipping for the next. It is all life changing.”
One of the main themes of tuesdays with Morrie is that life isn’t about popularity, careers, or money as our popular culture would have us believe; but about loving, meaningful relationships. During Morrie Schwartz final weeks of life, as his body slowly gave into the detrimental effects of ALS, he was able to see life through a window void of life’s distractions, overpowered by the realization of what truly mattered most. Through their weekly visits he taught a young man, caught up in a meaningless routine of life, to invest his time and effort in people, rather than things. Last of all, he helped those around him realize that death is not something to be feared: “If you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward.”
“This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do.” (Thomas S. Monson, 2008)
How much more joyful would each of our lives be if we could learn to enjoy each day for what it is: a gift from God. Laugh and cry, but live life to its fullest.
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