I’ll admit it. I used to drink lots of instant coffee. These days I just can’t bring myself to throw some powder into a mug of hot water and call it coffee.
I’ve also decided that from now on, when the smiley lady on the airplane asks if I’d like coffee, I’ll be saying no. I’ll be polite but I’ll say no because what she’s offering doesn’t really taste a lot like coffee. It may have tasted like coffee some hours beforehand when it was made but it certainly doesn’t by the time they serve it up. I almost suspect that real coffee has a fear of flying and so they’ve found some kind of weird substitute.
Life is too short to drink bad coffee.
Life’s too short.
I’ve seen a number of statements in recent years about life being too short. Life’s too short to worry about what other people think. Life’s too short to drink cheap wine. Life’s too short to be anything but happy. Life’s too short to wait. Life’s too short to wake up with regrets.
I would agree with some of those statements more than others but the interesting thing is that many of them are about life being too short to bother with stuff that doesn’t maximise our own life experience. In light of eternity, this life is incredibly short but surely this short life is about more than squeezing the most out of the years we’re given purely for our own benefit.
Life’s too short to withhold kindness from others.
Whether it’s just giving away a smile or giving a large part of our lives to help others, focusing on those other than ourselves should be a priority during our short time on this planet. Put kindness on your bucket list.
We can find a million reasons to withhold kindness from other people but life is richer when we share something of ourselves with no expectation of return.
It doesn’t matter who we are, we all face struggles throughout life that remain unseen by most people. When we withhold kindness due to the way a person acts or the attitudes they display we may very well be withholding kindness from the person who needs it far more than those who are ‘nice’ to us.
Life’s too short to hold grudges.
When I encounter people who have cut others out of their lives over petty issues it makes my head spin. I know that we sometimes need to retreat from certain people, sometimes for a season, sometimes forever, but the stubborn refusal to forgive damages everyone concerned.
Forgiveness isn’t just a quick case of ‘forgive and forget’, it’s a process, sometimes a very long process, but if we refuse to undertake that process we remain slaves to the hurt.
If you want to read about some ‘big forgiveness’, head to the Forgiveness Project. The founder of the Forgiveness Project, Marina Cantacuzino, has a great take on forgiveness.
Forgiveness is an inspiring, complex, exasperating subject, which provokes strong feeling in just about everyone. Having spent all of 2003 collecting stories of reconciliation and forgiveness for an exhibition of words and images which I created with the photographer, Brian Moody, I began to see that for many people forgiveness is no soft option, but rather the ultimate revenge. For many it is a liberating route out of victimhood; a choice, a process, the final victory over those who have done you harm. – Marina Cantacuzino
Life’s too short not to consider the bigger questions.
The older you get, the more you realise that life is short. Very short. These days I look back at the decades and it feels as if I’ve only just got started on this journey of life, yet I know that it’s extremely likely that I’m more than half way through my time here.
While I hope that I’ve still got a good number of years ahead of me I really can’t be certain of when this fabulous journey will come to an end.
So what happens then? What happens after this life? If this life is so short and eternity is so long I need to discover whether this is all there is. Life’s too short not to consider the bigger questions.
I’m unashamedly a follower of Jesus so it’s my belief that this life is just a short, shabby lead in to a glorious future. You may think I’m wrong but have you actually taken the time to fully explore the possibilities?
If this eternity thing is real, and I fully believe it is, you owe it to yourself to check out the evidence yourself. Don’t rely on what others are saying or what you think faith is about. Investigate the evidence and be open to discover something that could change your thinking and your life.
Life, at least on this earth, is short. Eternity is forever.
Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Life’s Too Short …? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.
