For the third time in just a little over a year, I’ve lost a friend and close colleague that was far too young and just reaching the prime of their personal lives and careers. In one case, an old friend who I’ve known since middle school that we ended up working in the same area of learning technology. In another, a coworker who ironically enough, our wives grew up together. And in the third, someone who was a great and gentle spirit in the workplace that I had the benefit of working on a few projects with.
I’ve been hearing and reading many others say - it’s such a great loss - and I couldn’t agree more in each and every situation but I would really hope that when my time should come, that they would never think to say that my departure from this earth would be a “great loss.” Obviously not so much that people would feel the world is a better place without me, but more so because I will have served and left enough of a legacy for positive things that my mortal presence would not be missed too much.
I realize that the reality for many is often they would hope for more in one’s lifetime; that there is always potential for more than there was time for; or that parents should not outlive their children. I can’t disagree with thise ideas but people also have odd measuring sticks too - should a lifetime fulfilled be measured in years, accomplishments, lives touched, etc. etc. - contemplating it quickly becomes a philosophical exercise too vast for a quick blog post. To some the solution might be to diminish expectations of how high those measurements should go. To others, all endings may be considered tragicaly short of fulfilment. I admire those efforts to establish positive enterprises - foundations, scholarships, etc. - in the memory of those who cared and worked in these areas. It is a great way not only to preserve the memory of a shortened life but to also to draw inspiration from that experience.
I don’t have a definitive answer for this. I admire those who appear to live beyond their potential because it’s easy to see that as a life fulfilled but potential, in a way, is often a measurement definied by human calulation based on observation and experience. So, strangely enough, although it is the holidays, I do find myself still thinking of friends and colleagues lost in the past year or so, who they were, and what positive impact they continue to make in my life and others. All is not lost.
Tags: loss life influence
Categories: Culture Religion Arts Politics & Science
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