Robert L. Frost was an American poet born in San Francisco in 1874. He died in Boston, in 1963. During the celebration of his 80th birthday, Frost was asked by journalist Ray Joseph: “What is the most important thing you have learned about life?” And, with the acumen of those 80 years and without a pause, Robert Frost answered:
“IT GOES ON”
MY TAKE:
I have known about this quote for a while and thought it would be relatively simple to sit and weave some thoughts regarding its meaning. After all, it is short and sweet, right? Well, as it turns out, it has been one of the more difficult quotes to unravel and then put back unto the paper.
Think of it. That life goes on is an accepted truth; we know this is the way it is. That is the way our universe works and will -hopefully- continue to. Yet, if we accept it at its most basic meaning, we must also accept that we as individuals are, after all, not much more than a very small footnote in this process. Our pride, and everything we hold dear and about which we have a degree of self-satisfaction, will be rendered into a minuscule scale.
We must step outside ourselves for a moment and look at this from a different perspective. If we work from a strictly self-serving purpose in life, we will indeed be not much more than a footnote once we're no longer present. Our created memories will disappear along with their creator.
On the other hand, what we do in life, what we accomplish, the sacrifices we make, and the work we do to bring benefit not only to ourselves but to others as well, will live on once we're gone. Within our families and our friends and in our community; our legacy becomes our signature and this lives on well beyond our journey on this world.
As we grow, we continuously learn. As we learn, we become more accomplished in what we do. As we become more accomplished, we get better results and begin to reach our goals. As we reach our goals and become successful, we must then assume different responsibilities. At this point, we should understand that the blessings we have are to be shared with those who may have less. This is only a way to express our thankfulness for that which we do have.
The selfless work we carry on, on behalf of ourselves and others, becomes our legacy. It will be our continuing presence beyond our actual presence, as it were. Work, play, grow, learn, accomplish, and then remember to share a “slice” of what we have with those who are less fortunate than us.
I believe this is our real purpose in life: to learn we are part of a whole and not a whole unto ourselves. We share whatever we have; be it money, thoughts, knowledge, advice, or, simply, love.
Try it. The level of true accomplishment we can come to feel goes well beyond that which is generated from purely making money or having “more things”. We have truly grown when we come to understand that we can indeed leave a lasting mark, along with a legacy of goodwill and a memory of a well-spent life.
So yes, life does indeed go on. And … isn’t it beautiful that it does? It is even more so when we can say that for those around us, it will go on to a better level because of what each of us, as individuals, accomplished and willingly shared with them.
Well, forgive this ramble. I have been thinking
about this for a while and it was time to sit and get it done. I hope it means
as much to you as it does to me.
Be well and, please, come back and visit once in a while...
