The Dash Between Life and Death: This is What Makes Life Meaningful
One day, someone will carve two dates into my gravestone.
The year I was born. The year I died.
But those numbers will hardly tell the story of my life.
Living to be 70, 80, or 90 years old will not necessarily mean I lived a good life.
Just like in the case of Charlie Kirk, living 20, 30, or 40 years doesn’t necessarily mean that a life was wasted.
The amount of time lived means nothing.
The true story of your existence is the small line, or dash, between the two numbers on the headstone.
That tiny mark represents everything you did, everything you loved, and everything you stood for.
And that dash — that’s what defines a meaningful life. Not the first year or the last year — but how you lived in between.
The Illusion of a Long Life
Not long ago, I thought the goal was simple: live as long as possible.
Stay safe. Avoid risk. Keep breathing.
But the older I got, the more I realized — longevity doesn’t equal substance.
A long life without purpose is just you waiting to die, and hopefully, you had a good time in the meantime.
To which the Bible says, “Teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart” (Psalm 90:12).
This psalm is understood as a prayer for divine awareness of life’s brevity and purpose, and reminds humanity to live righteously within the small portion of time granted to each and every one of us.
Or in other words, it’s not about counting years — it’s about making years count.
When I was younger, I spent so much energy trying to avoid what I perceived as the discomforts of life that I forgot to live.
Instead of trusting God as I should have, I chose to worry and fret.
Why wasn’t I financially stable, as I perceived my peers to be?
But I had it all wrong. My focus was on the wrong things. Now that I’m on the other side, I understand that none of the material things I thought I needed make the “dash” of life more meaningful.
The things I was already doing, like being engaged in my kids’ lives every day by either driving them around to activities, teaching them bible lessons, or simply preparing meals — that’s the meaty substance of life that brought value and purpose to my “dash”.
In short, I learned that a long life means nothing if it’s lived in anxiety and fear.
A short life, lived with God’s principles of goodness — whether it’s kindness, compassion, order, responsibility, duty, etc — can change the world.
And this is why, like him or not, Charlie Kirk made the “dash” count in only 32 years of existence.
How to Live a Meaningful Life
What makes life meaningful? Here are three truths that will reshape your dash:
- Live with courage.
Every day, fear and anxiety will try to shrink your life. Defy it. I started to overcome my fears by absorbing God’s wisdom. You do this regularly, and you will feel empowered.
Then force yourself to do things that scare you. Take me, I recently began my writing journey. Don’t laugh, but this writing thing has been 15 years in the making. I have notes on things I wanted to write about from 2010.
Just take the first step.
- Live with conviction.
Don’t bend your values to fit the world. Anything that lacks a foundation in God’s truth will not last for long.
So stand for what’s right, even when it’s unpopular. The world flourishes every time truth and righteousness are affirmed.
- Prioritize relationship.
Relationship is the reason for the universe. Relationship with God. Relationship with each other. Relationship with nature.
Therefore, meaning grows when you relate in kindness. And when you serve, share, and give to others.
From personal experience, there’s a direct correlation between relating well with others and living a satisfying, meaningful life.
In particular, this mindset and mode of living has allowed me to be married for almost thirty years. My wife and I have served each other in many ways over the years.
One major way has been having “other worldly” patience with one another—hence, we are still here.
The reason why a meaningful life stems from service to others is that this is precisely what God has and continues to do for us. At the very least, we can be gracious and pay it forward.
So, turn your existence into significance by living a meaningful life filled with service, rather than self-protection, and fear.
My Final Reflection
Think about your gravestone for a moment. Two dates. One dash.
That dash is your entire existence — your laughter, your failures, your kindness, your courage.
It’s the space that will define your legacy in this world and beyond.
The question isn’t how long your dash is — it’s what you fill it with.
Did you build something positive that outlived you?
This doesn’t have to be anything material. It could simply be a strong family rooted in godly principles that will help improve this world.
This one I can hang my hat on. And that’s the measure of a meaningful life.
