Life between the Dash

So much musings over our arrival on earth
Clinic visits and hospital stays
The day finally came we breathed our first
We came into the world screaming out loud
We were crying but everyone was smiling
Mum and dad, Aunts and uncles
All cant wait to see us
We were their bundle of joy
From then on life is like living
In between the dash
We are trained to run
Life between the dash

Our life is often lived like
Life between the dash
We dash from bed to get ready
for the challenges of the new day
Daily chores a load of care
We even dash through lunch time
and forget to eat
Evening comes, the dust settles down
We dash to come home
With a heavy weary soul
Our body tired to its core
Now I lay me down to sleep

As we dash from here to there
Sometimes we forget
to watch the beauty of the earth
We dash to get things done
Tuitons, Games, Movie nights
We dash through the events
We could hardly enjoy
all the moments with people
We dash through the traffic
Try to make it on time
Just to find we are worn out
From the dash of the day

As the years gone by
At last we find time to rest
Slow down and we could finally enjoy

But alas we have no more energy to dash

Just as well we could take it all in slowly
Living one day at a time
The true meaning of life
The true purpose of living
Slowly become clearer to us
Although life is about living in between the dash
We do not need to dash through
Then we have truly lived

The Dash Between

by Ron Tranmer©

I knelt there at the headstone

of one I love and cried.

Name, with dates of birth and death

were perfectly inscribed.

I pondered these two dates

and how little they both mean

when compared to the tiny dash

that lies there in between.

The dash serves as an emblem

of our time here on the earth,

and although small, it stands for all

our years of life, and worth.

                 

And our worth will be determined

by how we live each day.

We can fill our dash with goodness,

or waste our life away.

To ourselves, as well as others,

let’s be honest, kind and true,

   and every day, live the way

we know God wants us to.

May we look for opportunities

to do a worthy deed,

and reach out with compassion

to those who are in need.

For If our hearts are full of love

throughout our journey here,

we’ll be loved by all who knew us

and our memory they’ll hold dear.

And when we die, these memories

will bring grateful, loving tears,

to all whose lives were touched

by the dash between our years.

http://www.rontranmer.com/the-dash-between

​The Dash
by Linda Ellis copyright 1996

​I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real
and always try to understand
​the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before. 

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

​So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?

http://www.linda-ellis.com/the-dash-the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis-.html