a gift

i'm coming to realize that everything we have in life is something that is given to us. it is a gift. be it a person we love, a thing we love, or even an object of utility value. nothing was ours to begin with, so whatever is with us today - is a gift to be preserved and nurtured. we are the current caretakers of all that is ours today, before we hand it over to the next intended caretaker. i do not know what the right or wrong thing to do is, in each case, but in my limited wisdom - i feel that we have a responsibility toward each gift that we have in our possession today. it will not be ours forever... tomorrow we may hand it over to another, or it may be taken from us. so while we do have it, we should tend to it with great care and preservation. we mustn't abuse, nor throw away. we must value it for what it is worth, not take it for granted. a pillow, for instance, may only be an object, but it grants me much comfort when i need it - in the night. i feel i have a responsibility to treat that pillow with the respect it duly deserves. do i make sense? and so, i think, it is with all life's things. today, as they say, is a present - to make the most of or to throw away.

and then again, the goal is not to be attached in our preservation. for every object, every person in our life has a purpose. when that purpose is fulfilled, we must graciously withdraw from ownership. so that another may prosper. how to determine that the purpose is fulfilled... is another story altogether.