We are always saying Goodbye

One of the most amazing things I am learning: it is natural for endings to occur and just as each sunrise says Goodbye to the moon each morning, so too do we say bye to something each day.

As I sit speaking to someone who is preparing to breathe their last breath I wonder if they are ready to say goodbye.  I have learned many life lessons and many teachable moments of late about goodbyes and how healthy they are for our growth be it internal or external. I think that is why volunteering at a hospice allows me to leave humbled having done it. Now back to my story:

As I sit with her, I ask “what if anything do you need from me”, waiting for her reply. Ya see, we have chatted often and I have come to enjoy her company, her words of wisdom and her gentle nudges about saying goodbye. She asks of nothing other than to spend time with her, for her to know she mattered to someone, anyone. And so I ask her if she could, what life lesson would she like me to know, ohh that was an easy one for her to answer… Make sure you love more, make sure you check in with people even if it is for one moment. This made me smile and I was grateful for that gentle reminder from Maude, which is something I try to do each week through sending an email or a written letter to say ‘hello to someone. Further to that, Maude spoke about “Life really IS like a movie .. we seem to leave in the middle of it where it starts to get exciting” 

Often I find myself looking at someone and wondering to myself “humm, What if anything do you require from me?  Can we be brave enough to ask the question knowing the recipient will tell us their truth or perhaps a simple “oh nothing” reply. I wonder how often we miss these moments of connection with others, with ourselves. How often do we live our life on auto-pilot and or with our foot so hard on the peddle we can’t even remember how we arrived at our destination.

I think of what Maude said “make sure you Love more.” In today’s craziness out there, in the media frenzy world, in the world of ‘doggie eat dog lets climb that ladder et all, how do we find the time to Love More?  I am confident there are some that think ‘what the heck does that even mean! I like to think spending time to look inward, to focus on my spiritual growth and health, how many folks have I forgotten to connect with.. humm interesting point of view isn’t it.

This notion of “We are all just walking each other Home” and one day we will ride that bus to our next destination reminds me that Maude is correct, we say goodbye all the time and don’t even know it. We live in such a disposable society we often forget people are not items we can throw around and away like useless-broken items.

Miss Maude, your words still ring true for me and I think of her smile, her words, her mannerisms, her charm and she gentleness when she spoke. You see, Maude has passed since I first started writing this entry.  She wanted to make it very clear, each of us has a gift to share and each of us say goodbye each day.  We would remaniss about her life; her loves; her silliness; her passions and her love of the colour purple – everything was purple.

And so the view from my chair today provides for a few take-aways; that is if you have time to read them

1. How often do we take time to listen to the ‘Maudes in Life.. NO REALLY Listen
2. Don’t be sad its over, Be joyful it occured
3. Acknowledge that sometimes its okay to say goodbye to friends et all
4. Try not to treat people as disposable items – their feelings do matter
5. Perhaps spend some time with someone who is alone and allow them to share a story with you
6. Maybe today we try to Love more .. starting with yourself

As always, I apprecaite you stopping in to read my Blog and hopefuly you may find a nugget or two you can carry with you. Life is more magical than we acknowledge, yes indeed it sure is!