The Title of Your Life
By Bernadette A. Moyer

She lived, she loved and she learned! I was reading an article about what would the title of your life story be and how would you define it.

The very first phrase that came to mind was “she lived” and then she loved and boy did she learn. Today as I write this we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and most of us are self-isolating and social distancing. We are alone with our inner thoughts and have the time for self-reflection.

As I made my bed this morning, (yes I still start each day with making my bed) I looked out the window to the bright red bird feeder surrounded by birds. There is a tiny red cardinal among the others. It stands out for me as I do believe in the folklore that suggests that red cardinals are like angels and messengers from those that have passed.

This is the week that nine years ago my mother passed and then a week later her mother my grandmother passed. I don’t dwell on these dates and am aware of them due to legacy.com e-mails that remind me.

Who we are and how we live and have lived our lives is centermost on my mind these days with death dates and rampant illness all around us. I am also Catholic and thinking about Easter and Christ and his last days before he was risen again, and about spring, renewal and rebirth. This year more than ever they are not just words but point to my inner being and how I have lived my life.

I am certain turning 60 just 6-months ago has also been a catalyst on my life and how I have lived it, and continue to live it. What will I do with the remainder of my days here on earth, these days I have the time to truly think about my best life and how it has changed through the years and what it may look like down the road.

If nothing else I have been true to myself and where I don’t live in the past I do trip down memory lane and look at myself through the years and with so many lessons learned. What made me who I am today, for some reason I thought about my school uniform and how I received a “demerit” for wearing a non-regulation sweater over my blue wool jumper with the peter pan blue collar blouse. This was during my senior year in high school when I was pulling away from family, becoming more independent and trying to figure myself out. I have always been a bit of a rebel.

One of the greatest gifts with aging is the quiet that rolls over you where you have a thought, a feeling, or a comment but do not feel the need to share it. You become more accepting. You enter less battles.

I live in gratitude for all the living that I have behind me and in excitement for what I hope and pray lives ahead for me. There is nothing that I view as all good or all bad just what is and what was, I never view life as what happened to me but rather as what happened for me.

Every time I thought that I was losing, it always turned out to be a win. What was let go was replaced with new and better. Today I look at this Easter as a profound time in history to practice grace, gratitude and peace and to remember each life is different and unique. We have but this one life and how do we choose to live it?

What would the story of your life be called? Who would the characters in your story be? What work would you do? What belief system would you hold? Who would you love? What would best life living look like?

For so many people this pandemic will create loss and yet an opportunity to begin again, a time for renewal and a time for rebirth.

For this Easter and always I pray that you are living true to yourself and taking the time to ponder and to decipher what would the title of your life story be called?

Peace and abundance of all that is good …
Bernadette