What would I do with another 45 years? If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: Life is short. But I’m beginning to think just the opposite. Life is long. Life is great. Certainly arduous. But most importantly, life is for the living.
On Mother’s Day I went to visit a friend. We talked and laughed. It had been too long since I visited Genoveva. But luckily, she was still the same: bright smile, courteous and as always, had a hot cup of coffee ready for me. Folgers crystals, thank you very much. She lets me stir in however much I want. You know — to each their own strength of coffee.
We settled in and started gossiping. She told me about the rake she keeps at the front door. It’s not to ward off unwanted strangers, she made clear. Rather it’s to keep close at hand when she needs work in the garden. Sometimes the door to the garage gets stuck so now she can rake the grass or pull the weeds at a moment’s notice.
Moms are ingenious and they have a way of making life easier. Whether the moms in your life are your natural moms, or whether they are just experienced in the way of the world, we have a lot to learn from them. They are selfless, they are protectors and through some sort of magic, they never get tired.
Whereas men can always take a nap under a tree while fishing or on a lazy Sunday afternoon watching football, moms never get that luxury afforded to them. No. Their lives are about toiling or fidgeting or getting things just so. Dinner is coming up and there are potatoes to peel or peas to snap.
Life never stops, so when I started thinking about my friend and my life, I realized I have a lot to do. Even though life is short, relatively speaking, it’s even longer in reality. My friend, you see, is 96 years old. And she looks darned good.
I got to thinkin’ “If god blesses me with another 45 years of life, what am I going to do with it?” That’s a lot of years. That’s the same number of years to live as from when I was six years old to now! A lot has happened since I was six years old. I did things like learn to read, learned to eat with a fork, went through puberty, learned a foreign language, went to school, then college. Got my first job … and well, you get the point.
And the point is, just when you thought you were getting older or you thought you were heading into the twilight years of your life, you’re hit with the reality that there is more to do. I feel like I am at the birth of a new age. Like everything I see, I am seeing for the first time. There is a pantheon of knowledge to gain. I have to study and learn. I have to start a habit, learn a new language and find new ways of doing things. I feel as though I am six years old and hungry for knowledge, experience and an awakening.
Maybe this is just a coincidence, but I was asked by a family to give some advice to their daughter who will be graduating high school next year. They wanted some words of wisdom that would encourage her to go away to college.
In the deepest part of my awakening soul, I muttered a reality that I have always known to be true, yet rarely exercised in practice: All the riches in the world can’t bring you happiness unless you use them to better the world. What are you going to do to help the world get better?
I feel like now is the time. Whether it is for me or for you, we must collectively feel like a six year old, full of curiosity, wonder and the attitude that anything is possible. We have to mold the world into a better place.
Moms (whether yours or not) have a way of bringing hope into the world. They have a way of reminding you that your life is just beginning no matter how old you are. I know my mom pushed me every chance she got.
Perhaps unknowingly, she also taught me the wonder and joy of finding pleasure in new beginnings. “How was your day?” she’d ask me. “Fine,” I’d say. “Did you meet anyone new?” “Eh, sorta.” “OK, mijo. So long as you’re trying your best.”
Forty five years, huh? I have 45 more years to make and find new friends. Cherish the people who are already in my life and find ways to make them stronger. Maybe that’s all it means to make the world a better place. Find new relationships, treat the ones you already have like gold and never get tired. Maybe we should change the dictum “Life is short” to my favorite line in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Javier Sanchez is a former Española mayor and El Rito Media investor.