In hearing the podcast with Peter Schjeldahl and his article The Art of Dying, the gift of awareness struck home this holiday.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/23/the-art-of-dying\

Be it from my Dad who worked ridiculous times of the day and night for others and held himself quietly to a higher standard than most around him, or be it my teachers that often exampled that life is open for as much as you want to pull from it, often having to wrestle elements that would insure a productive life from a world that often tried to take more than it could from you, to the family that had surrounded me and keeps filling their lives with each other to live their best life, with each other.

It is so easy in such a cynical world to get caught up and forget what life can be, being thankful for where each of us have come from and where we want to head, and how we do that with others that matter to us and that surround us as well.  

There certainly is a somberness to this podcast interview but yet a somber beauty and a reminder, that we can absolutely relish and enjoy, and make the most of everyday, only if we choose to.  The people we surround ourselves with, the moments we view and how we view them, does not have to depend on others around us, it relies on us as individuals and then spreads out from there.  Never more than ever have I believed it is impossible to be happy with others until you are happy with the moments you have with yourself, which involved alot of reflection and the time to do so, and moments to be at peace with how you want your life to be.

I see so many others pitting the happiness of their life dependent on others and this saddens me.  I have always believed and led a life that tries to show others, be independently happy with yourself and relish moments most take for granted, then others will start to appear in that lens of a life well enjoyed. I owe many others for that ability to do so and am grateful for realizing how important to take those moments to do so, certainly an investment in yourself as a person, and ultimately, an investment in the relationships you have with others, resulting in a life worth living.