In its finest sense, a great thing to be able to say about someone is:
“He really knew how to enjoy Life.” Or, “She really knew how to live Life and to Love it!”
Alas, you may wonder where you fit in on this scale.
I say in its finest sense to make clear I am not speaking of any way of masking Life with opiates or any other escapades away from Life.
Enjoying Life is also more than taking Life in your stride, although Life is that too. Taking Life in your stride means that having a flat tire doesn’t have to impose tension and urgency. Whatever occurs on the surface of Life, this is your very Life to enjoy just the same.
Mud tracked in the house isn’t a catastrophe. Life is meant to be enjoyed with or without mud. Of course, Life is to be taken one day at a time, one moment at a time.
If your meat for supper tonight is more gristle than meat, chew the gristle and enjoy it. Among other things, gristle contains collagen, and chewing gristle is also good exercise for your jaw.
No need to turn the little into big! At the same time, little things can be the joys of your Life. A dandelion. A lollypop. A morning hug. A note. A smile. A question. An answer.
Oh, yes, there is more to Life than meets the eye.
When a friend or acquaintance dies -- dies as the world sees it -- you may find yourself missing someone who actually was more dear to you than you had realized when he was alive. Given the chance again, your Love would have no bounds. You had missed out on pouring Love on someone you didn’t know how deeply you cared for. What a waste of Life, you feel. What an unremitting longing you feel.
On the other hand, there may have been someone whom you always thought was admirable. You had taken for granted that he was wonderful and flawless, of the Highest, most dear to you. When he left Earth, you began to see him in a dimmer light than you ever had seen him before.
Suddenly, it appears to you now that he was not the tried and true Being you had thought he was. Sad to say, you may even feel you had duped yourself about him. In any case you do not see him now as you used to think you did.
You have experienced both sides of this, pro and con. When these two were alive on Earth in what is called real Life, you saw such differently. Now, when these two have left Earth, you are astounded at how you feel. One you appreciate far more. One you appreciate far less. You hadn’t anticipated such changes of heart whatsoever, not at all, yet this is what you got.
You can only shrug your shoulders and wish you had given more to the one you find you love more deeply than you knew. Now, if you could bring the more deeply loved one back to Life, you would make sure he knew all he meant to you. You would be so glad for his presence and not take it for granted. If you could undo, you would.
And to the other who later seemed less beloved, you shrug your shoulders and say to yourself, “What is the harm? What does it matter. May he rest in peace.”
What else is there for you to say? What else is there to tell yourself?
Seeing differently happens and has happened to you. What you thought was in your heart changed. It didn’t stay.
On the other hand, now you would see more clearly. Oh, how you would hail your Loved Ones now, Beloveds. So take the opportunity beforehand now.
Otherwise, never mind. Life moves along as it does and takes you with it.