Friday, October 19, 2012

Leading a Significant Life


“If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die.”  This quote from The Avett Brothers song “The Once and Future Carpenter” makes me think of what it means to live a significant life.  To me, living a significant life means living in the moment, being fully present, and making an impression on the people you love.  To live a significant life, you don’t need to be famous or rich or powerful, you just need to be the best person you can be.

I feel like I have been blessed to live around several people who have lived the life they were given.  One of them is my grandpa, Burnell Johnson.  It has been almost a year since he passed away, but when I think of my grandpa, I think of a man who loved his life and loved the people in it.  Seldom could you spend any time with my grandpa without feeling better.  His quick wit and his goofy mannerisms always made us laugh.  His positive outlook on life always made us think better of ourselves and the future.  Most importantly, the way I felt when I was with my grandpa was best expressed in one word:  loved.  He lived a simple life in a small town in North Dakota, but he lived a happy life, set a great moral example, spent a lot of time doing the things he loved to do, and became a friend to those he met along the way.  He truly lived the life he was given.

My grandpa may not have made a difference for millions of people, but he was significant to his friends and his family.  He made a difference to me not just in the way he made me feel or how he made me laugh but how he lived his life.  If I can live a life of purpose and goodness like Grandpa Johnson did, I will feel like I truly am living the life I’ve been given.  It would be an honor to someday be compared to my grandpa.

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