I used to write about the idea that, with the privilege of birth comes the burden of death. Now, as I get older, I have been pondering that the burden may be both birth and death. Death is a burden for those living. We lose people we care about and love, and the pain of that can be excruciating. As for death itself, some believe it is simply the end. Others believe some form of existence continues afterward, whether heaven, hell, reincarnation, or something else entirely. <\/p>\n
It seems to me that the burden is living. With the privilege of being given life, you have to endure all the hardships that are coming your way. I often say that the flood is coming, literally or figuratively. The \u201cflood\u201d could mean an actual flood that wipes away everything you own or it could be the loss of a child or receiving a diagnosis of cancer. It\u2019s coming for us all. <\/p>\n
Does the privilege of birth outweigh the pain and hardship? That\u2019s my struggle. If I\u2019m being honest, it depends on the moment. I often find myself struggling to find meaning in it all but I keep getting up and spending as much time as possible with my son and training in jiu jitsu and writing and reading. I try to be focused on doing things and not waiting for motivation. I attempt to be disciplined and force myself to do difficult things like jiu jitsu or archery. I try to push myself each day, mentally and physically. I don\u2019t know what else to do. <\/p>\n
I am being given this time\u2026for what? Maybe the meaning is just in the doing. Maybe the meaning is just in the showing up. What\u2019s true is that nobody can honestly know. We each have to come up with our own reasoning. So maybe I just have to make that my meaning. Waking up every day, earning the day through raising my son and accomplishing tasks (like some of the things I mentioned above). One foot in front of the other, keep moving forward. Could it be that the meaning comes from the little things? Am I expecting something monumental? If birth is a privilege, it has to be in the little things throughout life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The privilege to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I used to write about the idea that, with the privilege of birth comes the burden of death. Now, as I get older, I have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n