Honoring the Living
How many of us take time, our health and other people for granted?
The passing of Carrie Fisher and George Michael flooded social media around Christmas. Like others, I was stunned by the loss of these talented people at such a young age.
I wonder, how many people celebrated Prince or Carrie Fisher or George Michael in social media the 6 months before they passed away?
I am always amazed at the number of posts on social media honoring the passing of some public figure who 99% of the people posting have never met or had a meaningful conversation with.
We tend to glorify the dead in a way they were never honored in life. Why is that?
That is not to discount the contributions of artists or public figures. Instead it is to reveal the degree to which we discount the contributions of non-public figures and those with whom we interact or interacted with for a period-of-time.
In one of my recent “High Impact” workshops, I asked the participants to think about those who have had a high impact on them. None of them mentioned celebrities or public figures. They mentioned parents, teachers, and friends. I then asked, “What exactly was or is it that had such a profound impact on you?” After working independently, they shared their responses which included “how I feel around them, the way they looked at me, kindness, I feel like I matter.”
Maya Angelou said “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, people will never forget how you made them feel.”
How many of us are more likely to spend an hour a day on social media rather than having two meaningful 30 minute conversations with people who nourish our being and whose being we nourish as well?
How many of us kill ourselves at work so that at the end of the day, we have little time to spend with those whose presence in our life matters to us?
Think about how many posts or comments you have made on social media related to some famous person passing away. In the next 12 months, once a week, take time out to honor the living people who you have had a real relationship with or meaningful interaction. That would enable you to honor 52 people over the course of the next twelve months.
What if people honored themselves enough to take care of themselves? What if people honored those that have mattered to them while they can still hug them or at least have a conversation with them?
Let’s honor the living who have had an impact on us at least as much if not more so than honoring those who have passed.
#honortheliving