We deal with it as well as we can. And let that be that. If you are serving a life term, it is difficult to work up enthusiasm for breakfast. You just keep going, not because there is anything in it for you, but because you have developed a routine that calls for breakfast, and you go to breakfast. Big Woopie, as they say.
Life filled with routines like that is life only by definition–being 98.6 and breathing. We are built for more, but how much more becomes how much more we will settle for, and how far from exuberance and delight that is. It is a personal call, how alive we will be in the time left for living, and how much effort it would take to live with joy and gladness every minute of every day. I would say that is out of the question for us all, so we settle for the quality of life we settle for and let that be that. And deal with it as well as we can–letting it be what it is, and not caring about how much better we could do. Good enough is all we need to keep going. And that is more than most people have had throughout time. Central heat and running water, hot and cold. Most people have not had that. And they kept going. While serving a life sentence, so to speak. Perhaps we should have a moment of silence in their honor, and hold them in high esteem–and be glad to be with them, to be in their company, upon the planet. May it be so! No?
And this means knowing and remembering and honoring that our life just as it is is much better than serving a life prison term. And we would be right to rejoice in that, and be glad. And allow the joy spill over into the present moment through all of the present moments left to us–because the joy of life just as it is, is life knowing what it is to be alive, and living as though we mean it, as though we are glad to realize that life is LIFE–and that is to be honored and glorified, enjoyed and relished every day that is left to us on the earth. Amen! May it be so! No?
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 