Your Life Matters

It’s been a trying year.

A trying four years, actually. 

I know a lot of people who have been ridden with extreme anxiety through the last four years of absolute chaos and 2020 has been extremely difficult.

I’ve spent a lot of the last 48 hours in a Springsteen fog as I’ve dug into the new batch of songs and the documentary that they made as part of the release, and Bruce didn’t pull any punches.

He made it clear that your life matters. It matters to the people who love you, and work with you, to your family and your children.

There are moments on the record that are breathtakingly beautiful and the beauty in living is the beauty in living right.

I know a guy, a good friend of mine, and his calls and texts and even work conversations are always uplifting for me. He’s always in a good mood, is always smiling, and since he’s whip-smart he brings joy to every situation. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like him.

I thought of him because how he carries himself does matter.

On the contrary we all know someone who is a little hang-dog about everything. One guy I know wears his anxiety like a piece of clothing. Everything is too tough, nothing is good enough, and he often lashes out to drive down the people around him. To make himself feel better, I guess.

How you treat others matters.

How you go about your work also matters. Choose your work, do your work, take pride in what you do.

I had a telephone conversation with someone in the service field who was mind-numbingly wrong about what we were discussing, and I had a hard time getting over the fact that she didn’t feel the need to put in the effort to do her job.

The politics of the day are stark reminders of how poorly some people treat others.

I struggle with kids in cages and separated from their parents.

I have a difficult time with the name-calling and the nastiness of some public figures.

Do people need to get down in the dirt to win an election?

Doesn’t it degrade all of us?

Even listening to the divisive crap is depressing and man, if you visit any sort of controversial story and slide into the comment sections you’ll see how low some people can go.

The other day I pulled into the Dollar General parking lot to grab some paper towels. I got out of my car and a guy near the door yelled out:

“Hey idiot, the store is closed.”

I actually turned around to see who he was talking to. He pointed at me! Then pointed to the front door.

“See the big red signs that say the store is closed for remodeling?”

“I haven’t even got to the door yet,” I said. “And no, I didn’t have any idea that the store was closed.”

“Been happening all day,” he said.

“I just got here,” I said. “Why are you so nasty?”

He walked away.

His nastiness matters.

The bitter, nasty conversation between two warring political parties matters.

We are the United States of America.

Sounds great, on paper, right?

I believe that the anxiety of the last 12 months has been exacerbated by the nastiness.

And it all matters.

Here’s the thing, though, there’s no chance that anything I write or anything that Bruce sings can make the world spin perfectly on its axis, but the context of “it matters” is highlighted because Bruce is also talking about death.

How you’ve lived your days will matter to the people left here who will carry the memory of you in their hearts.

That’s the meaning of it all and it brings a lump to the throat when you consider it.

How will you be remembered?

As someone who brought happiness, or someone who is nasty.

You can love your life like a bar room fight...

...or you can leave a trail of happiness.

It’s your decision.

And it matters.