Last night I watched a Charlie Rose retrospective on some of the well-known people we lost in 2009. When I watch such a show, I’m always filled with emotions. Saddened by the loss, my heart also swells with the beauty and love of a life well-lived. On a personal and spiritual level I connect with that person’s energy as they move on to their next adventure.

Invariably what happens when I watch a retrospective show is that it always brings me back to me. I guess that’s kinda normal. The show ends and the credits roll and here I am sitting in a chair, left to wonder about my own life. I have all of these talents and gifts that I brought with me when I started this life-journey. Am I using them to make a positive difference on this planet? Am I enjoying my life? Am I having fun? Am I spending my precious moments and breaths on things that really matter to me?

Part of our earthly adventure is that we don’t know how long it lasts. The Charlie Rose lesson for me is that we need to embrace the talents we have, for the time that we have, to live lives that bring us maximum joy, love and beauty. We need to do work that nourishes our soul and brings meaning to our lives. And we need to help others along the way.

At the end of the show last night I asked myself the question I ask you now: If you were part of a retrospective on people we lost in 2010, and your picture flashed on the television screen, with the years of your birth and death, what would Charlie Rose say about your life? What would your life say about you?

Carpe Diem!