Defining the Dash

"A beginning and an ending, dates upon a stone, but the moment in the middle is how we will be known, cause what defines us can be found within a line." ~ Mark Harris, "Line Between the Two"

A couple weeks ago, the Blonde Oklahoma Girl went to a funeral. They talked about how the dash on a person's headstone signifies their life. The idea is that the dash between the date of your birth and the date of your death is really what matters.
Well in this context, the Blonde Oklahoma Girl was also talking about a stupid boy that she was dealing with. She said that the idea of the dash put things into perspective, and then she said that she wasn't going to worry about him anymore because that stupid boy didn't define her dash.

I thought this was pretty insightful. There are so many things that bother us or that we worry about that don't matter because they don't define our dash. How much time have I worried about things that just didn't matter? Boys, stupid arguments with people, minor decisions, what size of jeans I was buying.... It's easy to waste too much of your dash on things that don't matter.

So this year, I plan on focusing what does define my dash---the things that are important. Living my life, loving the people in it, experiencing as much as I can while I'm here, being kind to others, fulfilling the purpose that God has planned out for me. If I can succeed in these areas, and if they can define my dash, well then it should be a pretty darn good dash when that time comes!