Run with it!
I had an unspoken agreement with myself not to blog about Michael Jackson. That's such a funny statement coming from me, who at age 8 was his "biggest fan." However, with such extensive coverage of his life and death over the past several days, I figured there would be no reason for me to add my two cents. Well, in the wee hours, something changed, and while I know somewhere in TV-land, even at this hour, there is a tribute of some sort still going on, I have to share the two lessons in life I got from the King of Pop loud and clear.
(1) Michael Jackson did his thing. Are you doing yours?
Sure we are going to miss him, but will he ever truly be gone? Think about it. He made his mark on the world a million times over. Whether or not he got everything right while he was here, he was given a gift to reach the masses, and he used it. When that much talent is invested into an individual (and we all have it on some level), you better believe there is a great deal of responsibility that goes with it. He certainly did not hide his light under a bushel but set it on a hill for all the world to see. He touched the world with the work of his hands (and feet), and he left a trail of light and inspiration for others to come after him and continue the work. Somewhere down the line, a spark he ignited has or will bring somebody to the knowledge of divine purpose.
(2) If you don't plan on dying early, take care of yourself.
Just like talent, good health is a gift from God, and just like talent, we are allowed to do whatever we want with it. If it is indeed possible for one to die before his or her time, Michael Jackson showed us how to do it. If he weighed a hundred pounds when he died, it was with all his clothes on. The man was frail -- and apparently deathly ill. No, you don't have to be sick to go when your time comes, but the fact remains that we are given one vessel, one body, in which to live out our lives and purpose. If we neglect it, abuse it, misuse it, our vessel can malfunction and stop short of what was intended.
Taking care of our physical bodies (eating right, getting enough rest and exercise, not ingesting recreational toxins, etc.) is our responsibility. Likewise, so is preserving our mental and spiritual health (through professionals if needed) but most especially through connecting with our Creator and daily unloading our hearts and minds so that we don't lose sleep, miss meals, or poison ourselves with an overdose of the same and the other harmful things we turn to for self-medication.
As I think about this, I'm reminded of my father, a very talented man I never got the chance to know because his life ended just as mine was beginning. I was 10, he was 28. Twenty-eight. Full of promise and inner demons that won the battle for his vessel. It is such a shame when very young people die. We say they died before their time, that they left their work undone. Is that possible? My father had his own set of goals and dreams that were never realized, but was his purpose fulfilled on earth? Well, I'm here. Maybe like Michael Jackson, my father's painfully short life was just the spark to light the torch I was intended to pick up and run with.
Are you running with yours?
(1) Michael Jackson did his thing. Are you doing yours?
Sure we are going to miss him, but will he ever truly be gone? Think about it. He made his mark on the world a million times over. Whether or not he got everything right while he was here, he was given a gift to reach the masses, and he used it. When that much talent is invested into an individual (and we all have it on some level), you better believe there is a great deal of responsibility that goes with it. He certainly did not hide his light under a bushel but set it on a hill for all the world to see. He touched the world with the work of his hands (and feet), and he left a trail of light and inspiration for others to come after him and continue the work. Somewhere down the line, a spark he ignited has or will bring somebody to the knowledge of divine purpose.
(2) If you don't plan on dying early, take care of yourself.
Just like talent, good health is a gift from God, and just like talent, we are allowed to do whatever we want with it. If it is indeed possible for one to die before his or her time, Michael Jackson showed us how to do it. If he weighed a hundred pounds when he died, it was with all his clothes on. The man was frail -- and apparently deathly ill. No, you don't have to be sick to go when your time comes, but the fact remains that we are given one vessel, one body, in which to live out our lives and purpose. If we neglect it, abuse it, misuse it, our vessel can malfunction and stop short of what was intended.
Taking care of our physical bodies (eating right, getting enough rest and exercise, not ingesting recreational toxins, etc.) is our responsibility. Likewise, so is preserving our mental and spiritual health (through professionals if needed) but most especially through connecting with our Creator and daily unloading our hearts and minds so that we don't lose sleep, miss meals, or poison ourselves with an overdose of the same and the other harmful things we turn to for self-medication.
As I think about this, I'm reminded of my father, a very talented man I never got the chance to know because his life ended just as mine was beginning. I was 10, he was 28. Twenty-eight. Full of promise and inner demons that won the battle for his vessel. It is such a shame when very young people die. We say they died before their time, that they left their work undone. Is that possible? My father had his own set of goals and dreams that were never realized, but was his purpose fulfilled on earth? Well, I'm here. Maybe like Michael Jackson, my father's painfully short life was just the spark to light the torch I was intended to pick up and run with.
Are you running with yours?
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