Your life is important. Your life is valuable. Your life matters. And those are reasons why you shouldn’t wish your life away. Are you doing that? Well, ask yourself if you wish everything was different. Ask yourself if you wish you weren’t living where you are…or doing what you do for a living…or looking like you do…or anything else you might wish to be different. Then ask yourself…why? Why do I wish that? Normally, I don’t like the why questions. But sometimes they’re important to ask. They can reveal things about yourself you might need to know. And they might help you avoid wishing your life away.
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If you don’t have an eternal perspective, it’s almost impossible to avoid the wish dilemma. Even if you don’t wish your life was different, you probably wish you had more time than the mere 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 years here on planet Earth. But all the wishing in the world won’t change that. All the hoping won’t change things. All the dreaming won’t change things. So, what am I saying? Is everything hopeless? No need for dreaming?
Not at all.
It’s great to dream. It’s OK to wish. And it’s powerful and healthy to have hope. But, like I said…without an eternal perspective, those things don’t avail anything positive. Quite the opposite, in fact. Of course, that brings up the age-old questions…
- “How did I get here?”
- “Why am I here?”
- “What’s the meaning of life?”
There’s a one-word answer to those questions…but you may not like it. Here’s the answer…God. You got here because He designed you. You’re here because He loves you. And the meaning of life is summed up in His love. Believing and trusting in your Creator gives you hope. Hope for life that lasts forever. If you don’t have that hope, you might be amazed at how liberating it can be. If you don’t have that hope, what are you waiting for? Ask God to give it to you. He will. If you don’t know where to start…ask me.
Here’s a poem written from the perspective of hopelessness. If you find yourself in the words, write to me and tell me.
I Wish And Why
The house is quiet when we’re sad.
It’s as though it knows the reason why,
And if it does, then I am glad
It knows it’s better not to cry.
For shallow are my tears.
They’ve been this way for many years,
But they are tears you’ll never see.
They’re tears I cry inside of me.
Hide them”I tell myself.
Keep them locked in a box on the shelf of my memory.
My memory is all that’s left of happy hours.
I sit in my tower,
Look out on a field,
Try hard to forget,
But the sadness won’t yield.
I wish I was a coat in winter.
I’d keep somebody warm.
I’d like the chance to shield someone
From any kind of storm.
It seems that we all wish
For something that we’re not.
For want of something better
Many battles have been fought.
Still the want of being better
Than what we really are
Has driven us to seek a goal”
To reach up for a star.
And when we miss, or when we fail,
The anguish fills our bones”
A feeling that would see it best
For us to feel alone.
I think I’ll hang my thoughts up now
And quietly close my eyes.
I may never know the reason,
But the house does know why.
© 1974 Tony Funderburk
Stay tuned,
