Living Long
or Living Well
By Steve Goodier
A tough, old cowboy was asked by his grandson how to live a long life.
"The secret of living a long life is to sprinkle a little gunpowder on
your oatmeal every morning," the grizzled man replied.
The grandson did this religiously and he lived to the age of 93. When
he died, he left 14 children, 28 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren
and a fifteen foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.
He definitely went out with a bang.
Personally, I would rather remember somebody for how beautifully she
lived than how spectacularly she died. And I would prefer she leave a
hole in my heart than in the crematorium.
Besides, it has never been about how long we may live, but always
about how well we are living today.
Dave Dravecky, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants baseball team,
learned a lesson about what it means to live well.
Dave was enjoying an outstanding career until the day he was diagnosed
with a soft tissue cancer in his left arm. His professional baseball
career was over. After various treatments failed to stop the cancer,
doctors advised Dave to have his arm amputated.
Some people may feel that a diagnosis of cancer, the loss of a career
and the amputation of an arm may as well be a death sentence. Of
course, many survivors know better. Dave, too, learned that his life
was far from over.
When his little daughter Tiffany first saw her father after surgery,
she went straight to him and hugged him long and hard. Then she
smiled and announced that she was happy his left arm was gone. She
explained that over the last few weeks, the arm had caused her father
so much pain that he hadn't been able to hug her. With the arm out of
the way, they would be close again.
Dave Dravecky will never be the baseball star he had hoped to become.
He lost his arm and will always wonder if cancer will return. Maybe he
will live a long life, and maybe not. But regardless of how long he
lives, what matters is how well he lives.
He only has to hug Tiffany to remember.
Steve Goodier
Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com is a professional
speaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site for
more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Love
and Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com.