"Clean your plae," my mother said. "Don't take so much if you can't eat it." I didn't know when I took it that I would get full before I finished. I guess she was trying to teach me that I shouldn't be wasteful, but somehow I couldn't get the message. My aunt or my grandmother would sagely say, "There are starving childen in China that would be glad to have what you are wasting." I wanted to say, "Send it to them," but I thought better of it.
Now I find myself hearing her admonition to clean my plate in another context. I have this life that I seem to be wasting, just sitting there with nothing to show for it. Somehow I want to use it for a good purpose. I can't send it to someone in China. I can't share it with the hungry, or can I? Is there a way to extend life to someone else, to mentor, to teach, to extend life to those who are hungry for it?
I do hope my mother gets her wish that I clean my plate, use all the chances, make the best of every opportunity, explore every avenue. Funny how I used to hate those words, but now they shine like gold.
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