Counting for Something

I was sitting at the reception room of my dentist in Irvine the other day waiting for my turn when I noticed a bookmarker at the receptionist’s desk. My attention was caught with the last line of the passage written in the marker. It says, “At the end of the day, we all want our lives to count for something.”

True enough. That’s probably what’s keeping most of us from giving up on life. With the economic crisis and all, it’s crazy how our lives have been changed dramatically. It’s sad to think that gone are the days when we can simply sit on our porches and watch children play in the street. There’s simply no time to laze around and be carefree these days. Even in the innocent eyes of kids today I can see the struggle they are facing to find meaning in their lives.

It’s sad to see that even kids, rich or poor, are at work. All of them are in search for opportunities to make even a small sense of accomplishment in their lives. But funny as it may seem, the more we search for meaning in our lives, the more we live a dull and meaningless lives. Some even resort to drugs just to have a life out of the ordinary. Others push themselves to the limit just to have huge bank accounts.

What’s important to know is that we can get all the wealth, power, and fun we want in our life, but we’ll still die penniless. It’s not in how many numbers we can get in our bank account or how many houses we own that counts as meaningful. It’s more about how we live each day and the kindness that we shared to others that makes life count for something.