A Life Lived for Others by Asheville, NC Portrait Photographer

Today's post is a personal post dedicated to my grandfather (Pappaw). Recently he had a bad fall that landed him in the hospital where he had to undergo major surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain.  Multiple cat scans and prayers later it is looking like he is going to pull through and be ok, but prayers are still greatly appreciated.  Albert Einstein once famously said, "Only a life lived for others is a life worth while." I believe that Albert Einstein was talking about people that are like my grandfather.  For as long as he has been alive my Pappaw has put the needs and wants of others above his own wants and needs.  

I think many of us, including myself, could learn a lesson or two from how he has led his life.  One of the things that Pappaw seems to have a grasp on is that by serving others and making them happy, it makes you happy along the way.  Doing something kind to service another person helps us step back from our own life situations and see that sometimes in the bigger picture our life problems don't seem quite so big anymore, they actually start to look small.  Another thing I think we can learn from my grandfather is to not just focus on making our own "personal," dreams come true, but try to give others a hand and help their dreams come true as well.  Sometimes we get so focused on ourselves and our dreams that we don't aid others in helping their dreams come true.  Offer a helping hand and encouraging word to others and perhaps they will do the same for you and you will see your dreams come true even sooner than you thought they would

I once read a book that talked about if you were able to be at your funeral, what would you want people to say about you? Even though I don't love to reflect on death, I have often thought about this and what I hope that people will one day say about me.  I can definitely tell you that one day when people are looking back on my life, that I want them to say that I lived for others and placed other people before myself.  I also hope that they say that, yes, I went after my dreams, but that I helped make other people's dreams come true as well, I know that one day down the road these are the things that will be said about my grandfather.