A Life Well-Lived Is the Sweet Fatigue of the Soul

Lessons from my father.

The reward of a life well-lived, is a rest well-deserved.

In August 2018, my father having recently suffered a fall – and recognising the end was near – called me into his bedroom and asked me to lay beside him on his bed.

“Do you know that feeling when you’ve worked hard all day at something important that needed to be done, and gone to bed tired? The sweet fatigue when you lay your head on your pillow?”

“Mm-hmm”, I replied.

“That’s what you’ll feel at the end of your life, when you’ve dedicated your life to something important, to something that needed to be done. And the more strenuously you’ve exerted yourself, the more satisfied you’ll feel.”

Dad passed away four months later, satisfied and at peace.

What great mission will you put your shoulder to, that – when you lay your head on your pillow for the last time – will allow you to say as Saint Paul did: “I’ve fought the good fight. I’ve finished the race. I’ve kept the faith.”?

In the end, it matters less the victories and defeats – it matters only the extent of your exertions and the nobility of your intent.