The Dash In The Middle

We're born, we live and we die. The living, that's where we make our mark, where we decide what we leave behind. Each of us decides who we  will be, what we'll do to contribute, what legacy we will work towards and what we'll leave behind.

It's the dash in the middle. That's what counts.

That dash in the middle is found in the place we will all end up: the grave yard. That dash is on every headstone of every grave in every cemetery. The date to the left of that dash is the beginning, the birth, a starting point to the life we will live. It is the roaring, fiery launch of a rocket-life that begins with a newborn infant's first breath, whimper and cry. From that very moment until the last breath is drawn, that dash in the middle is who we are, who we become, how we shape our lives. That dash in the middle is what we do with the life we are given, what we say to the world, a statement that will last long after we are gone in the memories of those whose dashes ours intersects.

That dash in the middle is time, a commodity that cannot be bought but can easily be lost or, worse, wasted. We are given that dash in the middle by our Almighty Creator who, in His infinite wisdom, grants us a choice in what we do with that dash, the life we live and what we choose to do with it.

That dash in the middle needs to be nurtured, watered and grown into a life-tree that will bear fruit, sustaining the chain-reaction of all the dashes that will follow through the ages.

What are you doing with that dash in the middle, right now, this moment you've taken to read this entry? What does that dash in the middle look like, this instant, to those whose own dash yours crosses? No one else decides what your dash in the middle will look like, how bold or meaningful that dash is or may become, how deeply it will be etched into the headstone that is our time, our lives.

That dash in the middle, though small it may be in our final resting place, is the single, most important life-long symbol of what we did with our lives, how well we filled, or wasted, that dash. The dash in the middle seems unending in youth but very short when the date to the right of it is filled. Make that dash in the middle have meaning, both to yourself and all the others who are filling their own. Don't just say, wish or dream; DO. Take that first bold step, make that dash in the middle deeper, more meaningful, impactful. Fill that dash in the middle to overflowing, splash it positively over all the other dashes encompassed in your own.

Make that dash in the middle COUNT.