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Words & Video by: Patrick Crow's Thunder

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Have you ever really thought about the dash between your birth date and death date that will be etched on your gravestone? 

That tiny little line represents your entire life on this earth? 

For far too many people, that dash is spent in a state of numbness, distraction, and sadness rather than finding genuine joy and fulfillment. 

Let’s talk about the lost art of living.

A Look At Your Future

You lay in the hospital bed, taking shallow, labored breaths as the machines beep steadily around you. At 83 years old, you can feel your life force fading fast. 

As your mind begins to drift, memories start flashing before you. 

You see yourself as a young boy, playing outside until the streetlights came on, climbing trees and getting scraped up. 

You feel the exhilaration of your first kiss behind the bleachers at a high school football game. 

But then the memories grow fuzzy and indistinct. 

Endless days and years seem to blend together into a blur of cubicles and commutes, TV evenings and weekends wasted away. 

Had you actually experienced anything of substance past the age of 22?

With sudden clarity, you realize in these final moments that you had wasted the precious gift of your life. 

Yes, you had worked hard, owned a home, taken some vacations. But when had you last done something spontaneous or wildly new? When had simply being alive filled you with a breathless sense of awe and wonder?

Tears well up in your eyes as regret washes over you. 

All the hours spent mindlessly scrolling and binge watching. All the nights lying awake, worrying about insignificant things rather than embracing each moment. 

Opportunities missed to live boldly and seek out adventures. 

If only you could go back and spend more time outdoors, feeling the warmth of the sun and smelling the trees, take that cross-country road trip and see the vastness of the world, pick up hobbies that engaged your hands and mind. Fall madly in love one more time.

Most of all, if only you hadn't wasted so many years merely going through the motions. 

Letting the richness of life slip away, day by day, minute by minute, without truly soaking up its beauty. Until one day it was simply gone, and your dash between birthdate and death date felt far too small.

As you slip away, your final tearful regret is that you had missed the magic of being truly alive.

The Modern Epidemic

We live in an age of endless distractions and escapes. 

Streaming services, video games, social media, there's always something vying for our attention to keep us from having to truly be present with ourselves and experience life. It's so easy to binge watch an entire show in a weekend or scroll mindlessly rather than engaging with the real world around us.

And it's taking a massive toll in the form of a sadness epidemic, particularly among younger generations. 

Rates of prescribed medications for depression, anxiety, coupled with loneliness and a general lack of life satisfaction have been skyrocketing. Kids don't go outside and play; teenagers don't develop real social skills. We're raising generations of people who don't know how to truly connect and find happiness.

Part of the issue is that so few people even know themselves at a deep level anymore. 

We're terrified of the void, of silence, of being alone with our own thoughts and feelings. We do everything possible to avoid it, filling every moment with a distraction or task. 

But it's in those quiet moments of self-reflection that we can discover our true selves - our passions, values, what ignites that spark of joy within.

Break the Cycle

So how can we start to claw our way out of this epidemic of sadness and disconnection? 

How can we learn to embrace the fullness of life again, to feel that joy and richness of experience? 

It starts with being present and letting ourselves experience even the uncomfortable parts of life. Sitting with our thoughts and feelings rather than running from them. Building self-awareness and emotional intelligence. 

These are the things that lead to knowing our true, authentic selves.

From there, we can reconnect with what brings us alive - our natural surroundings, creative expression, physical pursuits, intellectual endeavors, quality relationships. 

We are hard-wired to find joy and contentment in these things at a primal level. But it requires breaking the cycle of distraction and numbness that has become so pervasive. 

Building true, meaningful connections with others is one of the greatest joys we can access as humans. 

And yet, we constantly put screens and distance between ourselves and others. We interact through shallow texts or perfectly curated social media posts rather than being vulnerable, present, and intimate with the people around us.

Disconnect to Reconnect

It's a radical act in today's world to choose to truly live - to put down the devices, get outside, build face-to-face relationships, engage with hobbies and interests that light you up from the inside. 

Those are the experiences that give our dash between birth and death dates weight and substance.

So I encourage you to take a hard look at where you're getting stuck in patterns of disconnection, distraction, and sadness. 

What is keeping you from embracing the full depth and richness that life can offer? 

How can you carve out spaces to know yourself better, to connect more authentically with others, to seek out the experiences and pursuits that fill you with a sense of happiness and engagement?

There is an amazingly vibrant world awaiting you when you have the courage to truly live with intention. 

A world of adventure, growth, love, creativity, and richness that will make that dash between your dates so much more than a tiny little line. 

The choice is yours to make the most of this one, wild and magical life. 

Don't let it slip away.

Let's Have a Discourse

If you have value to offer on this idea, even if it differs from my philosophy, please articulate it in the comments below. I enjoy critical thinkers who want to add to the conversation.

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