Living Long Or Living Well?

A tough, old cowboy was asked by his grandson how to live a long life.

"The secret of living a long life is to sprinkle a little gunpowder on your
oatmeal every morning," the grizzled man replied.

The grandson did this religiously and he lived to the age of 93. When he
died, he left 14 children, 28 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren and a
fifteen foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.

He definitely went out with a bang.

Personally, I would rather remember somebody for how beautifully she lived
than how spectacularly she died. And I would prefer she leave a hole in my
heart than in the crematorium.

Besides, it has never been about how long we may live, but always about how
well we are living today.

Dave Dravecky, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants baseball team, learned a
lesson about what it means to live well.

Dave was enjoying an outstanding career until the day he was diagnosed with
a soft tissue cancer in his left arm. His professional baseball career was
over. After various treatments failed to stop the cancer, doctors advised
Dave to have his arm amputated.

Some people may feel that a diagnosis of cancer, the loss of a career and
the amputation of an arm may as well be a death sentence. Of course, many
survivors know better. Dave, too, learned that his life was far from over.

When his little daughter Tiffany first saw her father after surgery, she
went straight to him and hugged him long and hard. Then she smiled and
announced that she was happy his left arm was gone. She explained that over
the last few weeks, the arm had caused her father so much pain that he
hadn't been able to hug her. With the arm out of the way, they would be
close again.

Dave Dravecky will never be the baseball star he had hoped to become. He
lost his arm and will always wonder if cancer will return. Maybe he will
live a long life, and maybe not. But regardless of how long he lives, what
matters is how well he lives.

He only has to hug Tiffany to remember.