In like a lion, out like a lamb? Nope!

When I flipped over my calendar page to March, I looked out the window. Here in Florida, March tends to come in like a lamb and exit the same way. The lion of weather strikes during hurricane season (June through November), so this adage felt more like a fuzzy, cuddly childhood remembrance than a way to welcome spring.

But then I began to think about how this could apply to our lives. During a typically normal birth we enter this world like lions, squalling and crying to the joy of our parents and caregivers. We're alive, and damn! We're going to sing it to the moutaintops!

Does that mean the end needs to be 'out like a lamb'? Does gracefully leaping into oblivion appeal to most of us?

I usually hear a person’s wish of dying peacefully, so maybe passing on with the dreamy softness of a lamb is a fond idea.

I think the most important piece is how we live our lives. If we tend to live each moment majestically, courageously and lovingly, we likely will end our stay on this planet in much the same way.

Take a moment to think of the last day of your life, or as Dr. Stephen Covey advised, "Start with the end in mind." Then bring yourself back to today on the thread of possible tomorrows. You have so much life to live in each moment, in each month and season. Let the sun glow on your face for a moment. Feel the breeze and hear the birds singing.

Then roar! Roar with the breath in your entire being. You are alive!