I’m sorry but I don’t remember which friend I discussed this with. I shall blame that on time or coffee or the scarcity of left-handed tools in a right-handed world.
The Dash Theory is an idea we slapped around because of its elegant simplicity. Each of us has a birth year. And each of us will have a death year. The thing in the middle, the dash, is what houses everything we experience, accomplish, regret, and leave behind.
Simple, right? One of my heroes growing up, comedian George Burns, lived from 1896—1996. Actor Heath Ledger less than a third as long, from 1979—2008. The dashes look the same. But are they?
George lived to be 100, Heath just shy of 29. Brilliant Jokers both. Study what comprises the dashes between each man’s birth and death and you’ll see a spectacular difference.
The innocent look of a dash hides everything but shouldn’t. The dash is a snowflake of life. They may look the same but no two ever are.
Long life or short life, every dash is formed by a collection of dots. In George Burns’ case the dots are tiny pinpoints, crammed together with holes so small a century of life can squeeze inside.
In Heath Ledger’s case, the dots required to create the dash are larger and fewer.
But to understand the life of either man, you must first put a magnifying glass to their unique dash and understand what’s there.
I am a big advocate of today and tomorrow, not a big fan of yesterday. I’m trying to jam as much as I possibly can into my dash because I prefer small dots to big ones. I do not know how many dots I’ll have or how large those dots will be. But I’m selfish; I want a lot more dots.
Because of that I live with a great sense of urgency and like to hang out with other positive people who attack life much the same way. Passionate people create dots. Defeatists don’t.
This approach works for me and I’m happy about that. Each day presents its own self-motivating challenge. And if that’s true, so must be the weeks, months, and years that follow.
But because a dash is not really a dash, but rather its own uniquely corralled series of dots, the creation of those dots depends on the life decisions we make. If we live a long time and get a lot done, we’ll have a lot of dots. But if we live a long time but get nothing done, we won’t. Either way, we’ll get a dash. But will that dash be built the way we want?
The same principle holds true for friends and loved ones issued their dashes much too soon. It’s not the dash itself that matters, but how it came about. To the unknowing all dashes are equal. But short lives can be brilliant lives with lasting impact. They can have infinite dots, especially if our memories decide to put them there.
So, yes, we all have a dash to look forward to. And those dashes might all look the same. But the magic of a life well-lived is not the dash itself, but rather the dots that built it. Never forget it. Be proud of the ones you make and make as many as you happily can.