What We Leave Unfinished. . .
I've had this candle lit the last week of my best friend’s life, holding space for her as she was in the process of dying.
She died before the candle was finished.
The day she died I felt more than a little lost on what to do with myself, when I was not crying my eyes out. I kept looking at this candle and the last bit of unburned wick and wax.
When I last spent time with her, my friend and I talked a lot about life and death and what it means to live fully. She lived in such a way that she died without regrets, having done and said all that she felt was most important to her.
I've thought of that frequently since her passing.
It's impossible to live a life and to die without something(s) left undone, not unlike this candle. No matter how hard any of us try, there's always something left unfinished.
A book half read.
A movie unwatched.
A trip not taken.
A home unpurchased.
A pet left without their human.
A holiday decorations still left hanging.
Something left unsaid.
Paperwork half completed.
A letter unwritten.
Our to-do lists and plans can never be fully completed. We'll never finish it all.
However, we can live a life that ends with no regrets. One in which all the important tasks and plans and activities are fulfilled and honored. One in which we prioritize that which matters most and let go of the little things that can never be fully completed.
It's impossible to die without leaving something unfinished, but it is possible to leave with a life fully lived.
My I leave the world one day with a life as fully lived as my dear friend.