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You can watch a tribute to my mother Nancy Lee Ring here:
I’ve learned that life is a limited time offer. There are so many things to experience, enjoy, and learn about. Unfortunately too many people don’t realize how important these things are. They spend their time securing a job, a status, or building a bigger bank account. Don’t get me wrong, it is smart to plan ahead and work hard, but you have to play hard too. Experiencing new and different things is one of the most remarkable feelings in the world. It’s the perfect mix of uncertainty and excitement, topped off with a hint of understanding. You will walk away from any new experience with knowledge whether you realize it or not. So take a moment everyday or just once a week even, to try something new. You could try a new food, start a conversation with someone you don’t know very well, or participate in an activity that you haven’t tried before.
I hiked the Manitou incline and bought a python in the last month and it was fun.
How does one deal with the death of a loved one? Sure there are many books and articles and counselors and religious leaders and specialists who claim to know how to cope, but how can anyone cope with death unless they’ve themselves died? How do people know what dying is really like? How do people know there is an afterlife? Has anyone ever truly died and then came back to life to tell about their death experience? I’m not talking about a near-death experience. I’m talking about full on dead and gone for good experience. Why does the prospect of non-existence terrify me so much? Before I was born I didn’t exist, so does that mean that I will cease to exist when I die? Or is it true that once life has begun and a soul is created it cannot simply cease to exist? Must a soul live on forever? Are souls even real? Is there scientific proof that humans have souls? Or is it something we’ve conjured up to keep ourselves sane? Are we making up theories that comfort us as a way to avoid thinking of the awful possibility that our lives that we are living right now might be a once in eternity thing? Is it possible that when we die there is absolutely nothing beyond our last breath? Is the pain one feels in life is better than the feeling of non-existence? Is it better to be alive and in pain then to be non-existent? For me the dilemma of dealing with the loss of a loved one is this: how can I be certain the person I love is in a state of peace when no one has died and lived to tell about it?
I try not to make this blog too serious, but hey sometimes life leads you to dark places.