Life is Real! Life is Earnest!
And the grave is not it's goal,
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
- Henry W. Longfellow
Upon reading these word for the first time, I realized that there was even more truth to them that perhaps the poet knew. This particular stanza jumped out at me because a friend of mine was contemplating suicide. So far, I had managed to convince him it wasn't worth it, but knowing his love for Shakespeare and other such poetry, I knew that this was what he needed to hear.
But it got me to thinking, you know, Longfellow was right. The final goal of our lives is not death. The goal of our lives is to live them rich and full, to be passionate and full of joy, to love, dance, sing, create, and most of all, live. We were created for more than just day-to-day drudgery, working, eating, and sleeping until the next day comes. It baffles me at times how people will settle for something so little when they can have so much.
Life is worth living, so live it full, and laugh at the bad times. They will only serve to make you stronger, if you will just remind yourself that death is not the ultimate end.
