A friend sent me a poem titled “Facts of Life” by Padraig O Tuama. I loved the 1980’s TV sitcom by the same name, so it was no surprise that the poem resonated with me as well.

“That you were born and you will die. That you will sometimes love enough and sometimes not….” These are the facts of life and acceptance of those facts somehow makes the truth easier. I am human. I appreciate the reminder that I human similarly to the way that others are human. Another friend reminded me that I am a human who makes mistakes and, as far as she knew, that was the only kind of human there is.

“That you will get tired. That you will learn most from the situations you did not choose….”

I know this to be true. If I could arrange life to suit me, I would not struggle. But it is in the situations I do not choose that I am able to grow in ways I could not anticipate. It doesn’t make me like the situation any more. However, it does allow me to find the path of gratitude through those situations. “That you will learn to live with regret. That you will learn to live with respect….” And, throughout the human experience, I have learned that regret and respect are not mutually exclusive. What I regret the most has created in me the utmost respect for others. Even though I live with it, I do not regret the past because through it I have been given the opportunity to be respected.

“That you must accept change before you die but you will die anyway.

So you might as well live and you might as well love….” And there you have the facts of life, so what will you choose? I choose, like a man named Otto, to live. And I choose to love.