3-1-22
Moreau FYE
Live Like You Are Dying
“Being remembered is easy. Being remembered for something good, now that’s exceptional.” This quote by Philip Gutirerrez truly encapsulates the difficulty of life- how can I live a good life while I am still here? How can I be a person that leaves a positive legacy for others? How can I, at the end of my life, know that I lived my life well? Often, when someone is too close to something, it is difficult for them to understand it in its entirety. The same can be said for life. “It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture.” (Iyer, “Why We Need To Slow Down Our Lives”, Week 1) As I now close in on the final chapter of my life, I finally have the chance to see everything I have done, to see it all together, and examine the image I have created with my actions. With a lot of hard work, and a little luck, I hope the picture is a beautiful one.
	I hope that I lived a life full of joy. Joy itself is “the sense of rightness in the way in which one is living one’s life.” (Fr. Michael Himes, Three Key Questions, Week 3) Joy, unlike other fleeting emotions like happiness and anger, is enduring. I hope that my life always had an underlying aura of joy, surrounding everything I did. Joy comes from pursuing a vocation you are passionate about, from developing deep interpersonal relationships, and sometimes even from simple activities, such as reading or, in my case, playing music. As my life draws to a close, I hope to look back upon every moment, and see the joy underneath it all, even during the moments of pain and anger. I want to have given enough time to the things I enjoy- music, art, sports, exploring. I want to have squeezed every ounce of joy out of every choice I made, even the bad ones and the ones I regret.
	I hope that I lived a life that impacted others positively. Father Hesburgh, the beloved former president of Notre Dame, once stated that he believed everything he achieved, all the legacies he left behind did not exist because he tried to leave them. Instead he said “A lot of this is the power of friendship.” (Fr. Hesburgh, Hesburgh, Week 2) In my life, I hope that the friendships I developed will act as a canvas of my legacy once I am gone.  I do not want to sit here, looking back on my actions wondering “why” I did what I did. Instead, I want to know “what” made my actions impactful. Even at the end of my life, I do not wish to dwell in past ‘maybe ifs.’ “‘Why’ questions trap us in our past. ‘What’ questions help us create a better future.” (Eurich, “The Right Way to be Introspective”, Week 6) I hope that my actions were driven by kindness, compassion, empathy, and love. I hope that I worked tirelessly to achieve equality for all in this world, which is something I have always been deeply passionate about. (Week 5) I hope that everything I did was for the good of others. I know, deep down, that it is impossible, that I, like all others, am inherently selfish. However, I hope that, at least a few times, I was able to overcome my selfish desires and fully give myself away. I hope that type of self-sacrifice bookmarked my life.
	A life well lived is one that has an impact that endures even after one is gone. Imagine a beloved novel, one that has been carried nearly everywhere. The cover may be falling off, the pages may be torn, the edges frayed, and the binding weak. There may be tear and coffee stains, and smudged pencil marks sprawled across the pages. These imperfections do not make the book worth any less. In fact, they make the book more valuable, more impactful. The same can be said about life. A life well lived is often one that is also marred by imperfection, by bruises, cuts, scrapes, and in my case, several scars. These marks can come from anywhere and everywhere. “Every experience shapes you in some way, whether you realize it at the time or not!” (Navigating Your Career Journey, Week 4) However, it is these blemishes that mark a life as having been lived, and lived to the fullest and best it could be. I hope that when I am gone, my life looks as if it has been through hell and back. At least then I know that I lived to the best of my ability. Sometimes my best is not quite enough, but it is always worth more than nothing.
When I am gone, I want to leave behind a world of love, tolerance, and equality. I want to inspire all those who follow me to stand up, to make a change, and to go for their dreams.“But the future is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognize the other as a ‘you’ and themselves as part of an ‘us.’” (Pope Francis, “Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone”, Week 7) In order to create a better world, people must act. If my actions can inspire at least one other person to improve the world in the best way they know how, then I have lived my life, and I have lived it well. As the character of George Washington sings in the iconic musical Hamilton, “Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder.” As I reach the end of my life, I am approaching the easiest part of my journey- dying. What was difficult is everything I had to do until now- all of the choices I had to make, the sacrifices I had to suffer through, the trials and tribulations, the ups and the downs. No one ever said that living a good life was easy. But in the end, it is completely worth it.