My last post, “In a heartbeat,” elicited a comment that touched me very deeply. The thought is so profound, and so important, that I’m going to paste the comment in directly in case it was missed by readers who visited earlier in the day on May 5. Thank you, Mr. Enbee, for giving us all something more to think about:
There is another side to this, Jan. The death of someone special elicits grief. Grief is painful, yet serves an essential need because it heals the wound of loss, which in turn allows a revisiting of that loss with pleasure at what had been gained in the relationship rather than with the pain of its having reached its terminus.
We all know, whether we give it much thought, that life is terminal in every respect. While living may be easier easier with laughter and love, to keep the focus only on the bright side so as to limit exposure to the dark, as your admonition implies, we experience a diminished life. Inasmuch as our own life is the only one available to us, is there not something to be said for living it to the fullest, warts, farts and all? What higher purpose could there be?