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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.
leave me alone
before you leave
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Leaving can be hard. Sometimes leaving home is hard for young people striking out on their own. Leaving a familiar job or church or school can be hard. And certainly moving away and leaving the familiar behind can be hard. I've done all of the above at least once, and each has been a mix of anticipation and sadness, and often there's sorrow or regret as well.
We all have to leave at some point. We graduate and leave school. We grow up and leave home. Almost everyone has to leave a job or move at some point. Leaving isn't easy; even when we're excited for what's next in our lives, saying goodbye can be so hard. Waiting until the last minute before you leave to say all the things you wanted to say or to express love and appreciation doesn't usually work out so well. I guess maybe the lesson is not to wait! Enjoy where you are every day, and let your people know how much you care about them.
Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Even if we don't struggle wtih goodbyes and leaving behind something good and familiar in this life, at some point we will all leave this world and go on to eternity. Don't wait until the last minute to choose your eternal destination, because you don't know when that will be. And don't wait until your leaving is imminent to live well and share the love of Jesus with those around you. As often as you can, and as much as you can, before you leave this place, make a positive difference wherever you are.
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It's what you leave behind you when you go. ~Randy Travis
Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when yiour turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best. ~Robert Baden-Powell
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Oh, that Randy Travis quote. I truly believe that, too. And the Maya Angelou quote that reads, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” So, leaving them feeling better about themselves than they did before you encountered them.
ReplyDeleteI like that Maya Angelou quote too - thanks for reminding me of it! And thanks for stopping by to comment!
DeleteI agree, goodbyes can be so hard even if we are leaving for something good.
ReplyDeleteSo hard sometimes. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
DeleteKym, so often you leave me thinking, though I might not always leave that impression. I hope I love signs of Christ behind me when I go... that people will have seen Christ in me. FMF17
ReplyDeleteI hope that I leave people with a good impression of Christ as well. Our highest goal! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
DeleteI don't struggle with goodbyes,
ReplyDeletesometimes you've just got to go,
and before I dry my eyes,
I'm discovered by a new hello.
If I hold tight to what's behind,
I undercut a precious gift,
and so I have to set my mind
to seeing farewell as a lift
that carries to a higher floor,
and I know not what I'll see
when at last the open door
presents a whole new life to me,
which must be taken as it's given,
for what else is the point of livin'?
I love that hopeful and positive view of farewells - and after all, our good-byes are only temporary, right? Thanks for your poetic comments!
Delete