Are You Living Life to the Fullest?

This evening, I was reading a story about a widowed professor who found inspiration in his wife's life and wondering whether to post it. I went back and forth - Doesn't everyone know to live life to the fullest? Carpe Diem and all that, right?

I think we all do know that, but it's hard to keep that thought in focus. For me, it's easy to confront my own mortality when reading stories like the widowed professor - it ironically brings that idea of living life to the fullest... to life. I'm hoping this little post will help remind you too. Tell your family and friends how much they mean to you...and show them if you can which is even better.

Here is the professor's story:

Jason Hans believes everyone should live their life in a way they would be able to inspire other people, a lesson he learned through his wife’s murder in 2002.

“If you were to die tonight there would be a lot of people sad, but would they be inspired?” Hans, a UK professor, asked the crowd as part of a Final Word lecture series.

“I’m happy to talk about her any chance that I get,” he said.

Hans’s wife, Irina, who he was with for six years, was shot in Washington, D.C., while walking home, in what was later determined to be an armed robbery.

When Hans was told of his wife’s murder, he found it difficult to realize that life went on without her.

“I was shocked that the sun came up,” he said. “I was a wreck for about five or six days. One night I just walked around the city to all the places we had been.”

Hans not only believed he lost a wife, but he also lost the children they had planned for. Hans and his wife had already planned their children’s names, Masha and Sasha.

One thing that helped him recover from her death was he felt that it had become his responsibility to be the caretaker of her legacy.

Hans learned from his wife that life should not be taken for granted and to make the most of what you have before it’s gone.

He said Irina had once written, “Lying in my dark, cold, spooky grave I will think: Was there a meaning for all that?”

Katie Lamping, a nursing sophomore, said the event gave her a positive message about living your life to the fullest.

“I thought it was good and it was touching,” she said. “It makes you think about your life and the people that are special to you.” (from the University of Kentucky's Kentucky Kernel)

Amish Aid Neighbors in Storm

Here is a great story about being a good neighbor, even when your neighbor is a little "different."

When ice storms recently pummeled large portions of Kentucky, hundreds of thousands of people were left helpless and without power. But their Amish neighbors, who have lived all their lives without the benefits of electricity, came to their rescue. Amish families lent out kerosene lamps, cooked meals on wood-burning stoves, and provided advice about making do without modern appliances. “Best neigh­­bors we’ve ever had,” said 76-year-old James Hutchins of Mayfield, who was without power for almost a week, “and we’ve been around a few places.” (from The Week)

It's too bad that it takes an ice storm to bring people together right? It's always important to get to know your neighbors and get involved in your community.

> Read the Full Story from the AP

Also, that Amish coffee sounds really, really good.