It Don't Matter
I see that Peter Falk died today…that’s a shame, but a nice, long, well-lived life by most accounts.
I watched a lot of Columbo with my Mom & Dad on Sunday nights, and we never really guessed the ending.
And another death of another celebrity that I enjoyed brings to mind a conversation I had with someone after Clarence passed away last week.
“None of it mattered,” a buddy said. “All that fame, all that money. As great as he was…it still didn’t matter in the end.”
But it did matter.
The fact that Clarence was in a band that brought joy mattered a lot. The fact that his job was to entertain thousands of people at a time was certainly a worthwhile way to spend his time on the planet, right?
Same thing with the bumbling detective. And the fact of the matter is that just because their jobs came with fame and fortune it doesn’t mean that they are better than anybody else. Yet their life work had to matter, didn’t it?
Because if none of it matters than what the hell are we doing? And certainly, all the money in the world wasn’t going to stop Clarence, or anyone else, ever from suffering the same sort of fate, but if we don’t consider what is accomplished while we are here as something that matters than why are we trying at all?
The most we can do is hope to make an impact somewhere along the way, right?
Whether you’re blowing a horn in front of millions of people, or emptying garbage cans in a remote corner of the world, there has to be a sense of purpose, right?
Our children are surely depending upon us to live a purposeful life. Our spouses are hoping that our work makes a difference to others. Hell, our own sense of self-worth is not predicated upon the amount of money that we make, but on our own feeling that perhaps we are helping someone along the way.
Not sure that life is best led by considering all of these heady things on a daily basis.
Perhaps life is better led by the seat of the pants from time-to-time, but the ultimate goal is that it has to make some sort of difference.
There have been millions of people who have suffered senselessly and left way too early, perhaps, but even in a life that is stifled living right will ensure that it wasn’t all done in vain.
We never really guessed the ending in all of those Columbo programs. We certainly won’t be able to guess the ending of the long program that we are currently starring in, right?
But somewhere along the way it has to matter to someone, huh?
I watched a lot of Columbo with my Mom & Dad on Sunday nights, and we never really guessed the ending.
And another death of another celebrity that I enjoyed brings to mind a conversation I had with someone after Clarence passed away last week.
“None of it mattered,” a buddy said. “All that fame, all that money. As great as he was…it still didn’t matter in the end.”
But it did matter.
The fact that Clarence was in a band that brought joy mattered a lot. The fact that his job was to entertain thousands of people at a time was certainly a worthwhile way to spend his time on the planet, right?
Same thing with the bumbling detective. And the fact of the matter is that just because their jobs came with fame and fortune it doesn’t mean that they are better than anybody else. Yet their life work had to matter, didn’t it?
Because if none of it matters than what the hell are we doing? And certainly, all the money in the world wasn’t going to stop Clarence, or anyone else, ever from suffering the same sort of fate, but if we don’t consider what is accomplished while we are here as something that matters than why are we trying at all?
The most we can do is hope to make an impact somewhere along the way, right?
Whether you’re blowing a horn in front of millions of people, or emptying garbage cans in a remote corner of the world, there has to be a sense of purpose, right?
Our children are surely depending upon us to live a purposeful life. Our spouses are hoping that our work makes a difference to others. Hell, our own sense of self-worth is not predicated upon the amount of money that we make, but on our own feeling that perhaps we are helping someone along the way.
Not sure that life is best led by considering all of these heady things on a daily basis.
Perhaps life is better led by the seat of the pants from time-to-time, but the ultimate goal is that it has to make some sort of difference.
There have been millions of people who have suffered senselessly and left way too early, perhaps, but even in a life that is stifled living right will ensure that it wasn’t all done in vain.
We never really guessed the ending in all of those Columbo programs. We certainly won’t be able to guess the ending of the long program that we are currently starring in, right?
But somewhere along the way it has to matter to someone, huh?
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