To Live Or To Die Slowly?

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice”.
Anon

At the end of the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, where the Private Ryan, now in old age, goes to visit the graves of the men that died rescuing him. He breaks down in tears and asks his wife: “Tell me I’ve lived a good life”. He wants recognition that his life has been worthwhile. He’s saying that he knows he was given the chance to live by men who died, and wants to know that he made the most of it.

The scene touched me on so many levels. What it boils down to is this: I don’t want to get to the end of my life and not be sure. Or worse, I don’t want to get to the end and know that I missed something through fear or laziness.

Death is a big prompt for many to question what life is all about. Typically the mind also comes fully to the fore with regret for things said and unsaid, done and undone.

Living a rich, meaningful life for me is living without regret – experiencing the full purity of the Ascendant so that regret has no hold on this moment, and at the same time doing all that I can to fulfil my role in each moment, to make sure no seeds of regret are sown.

The beauty of knowing the Ascendant is that each moment can die cleanly, leaving no trace, so that this moment can be truly lived, fresh and new.