Pixar's Up... and Death

I would think that most people reading this would have seen Disney/Pixar's movie Up. I have to admit that the first time I watched it I came away with a somewhat depressed and sobering feeling. Up us a movie with substance, it teaches some life lessons. During the beginning of the film you watch a couple as they fast forward through their lives together. You see their happiest moments and you see some of their saddest. As they grow older you see Ellie, the wife of Carl, grow slower, sicker, and eventually pass away. Her passing leaves Carl alone with nothing but a house full of memories and an unfulfilled dream.

As I watched Carl and Ellie grow old together I couldn't help but thinking of Sarah and I, knowing that someday that time would come for us.

For one of our relatives, the time may have come much earlier than expected. The recent diagnoses of a 40 something year old member of Sarah's extended family has got me thinking about this again. The cancer appears to be aggressive, and in its advanced stages. We hope for the absolute best, yet understand that chances are slim.

I wonder if it were me that were diagnosed if I'd feel ready to leave this life. I realize that if I were to leave suddenly there would be a great many things on my life-long "to-do" list that would go unaccomplished. Just like Carl's and Ellie's dream of flying to South America for their big adventure went unaccomplished until after she had passed away.

All of this has led to my newest goal. I would love to be ready to pass away at any time. I want to live my life in a way that I can leave with no regrets. This applies to my spiritual life, striving to repent and live worthily. This applies to my family life, where I hope that my wife, child and parents, siblings etc. can always know how much they mean to me and be taken care of. This applies to my professional life as well. I want to go knowing that I always worked hard, regardless of what my job or compensation was.

I'm hoping that at the end of the movie that Sarah and I are acting out together we will have accomplished the dreams that we've made. So that as we live happily ever after throughout the eternities we can look back on this tiny, yet infinity influential spec of time that is our mortal lives, and be able to say "I'm glad I did..." Not "I wish I had..." :)