Wednesday, December 4, 2013

OLD MAN OTIS' SECRET REVEALED: "AND THE MEANING OF LIFE IS ..."

A short blog today. No jokes, pretty straightforward. 

I promised to disclose the "secret" to a happy and meaningful life. 

But first, please welcome the arrival of my new great granddaughter, seven pounds of beautiful - Caroline Partin! What better way is there to begin a blog on the Meaning of Life?!

May she have a world of happiness and good health ...


In that spirit ...

If you knew that this was going to be your "last" day of life, how would you spend it?

But wait! Didn't we cover this ground last week? Yes we did. You see, the "secret" has been in front of you all along.

As for me:

If I knew when I was going to die I would get up on my last day, and ...

Tell my close family and friends how much I love them;
Help a person(s) in need;
Do something that I always enjoyed;
Return to my home and spend my last hours in the arms of the woman with whom I have an emotional and meaningful love.

But, even if I did not know this was going to be my last day - this is how I want to live so as to have a happy and meaningful life until the end.

That is a reminder from my last posting.

And that, my friends, is the meaning of life. My "secret," if you will.

Doing whatever it takes to live a happy and meaningful life.


It is sad to watch so many of those we love and care for suddenly finding themselves, along with their families, faced with the realization that death is inevitable and they are resolutely unprepared.


"I have lived my life, made my mistakes, tried to atone for them and dedicated myself to helping others. That is what I do now each day."

These are the most profound words that I know on this subject. They were written by one of, if not the, most respected scholars and teachers - Rabbi Joshua Heschel in his “Man Is Not Alone”. He continues:

“The deepest wisdom man can attain is to know that his destiny is to aid, to serve ... This is the meaning of death: the ultimate self-dedication to the divine. Death so understood will not be distorted by the craving for immortality, for this act of giving away is reciprocity.  Man’s part for God’s gift of life. For the pious man it is a privilege to die.”

Each one of us, from the time of our birth, has an opportunity imbedded in our minds and hearts regarding the concept of choice. The choice of being able to do good or evil, be strong or weak ... to change the course of our lives and achieve a high level of happiness.

The choices that we make will determine whether, when we reach our final years, we will just give up and quietly await our last breath, live out our final years in anger over the process of aging or, despite our physical, mental and past experiences seek meaning every day of our existence.


In past blog postings I described the beautiful marriage I had with, and the devastating loss of, my beloved Anna, who inspired me to write these words. What I did not mention was my own personal experience that followed shortly after her passing.

I live in constant pain, suffering from various physical ailments, and I am unable to live alone. I chose to move into a Retirement/Assisted Living facility so as to not be a burden to my children.

In making this move, I was able to continue following my business profession as well as community work, which has been a long-time commitment. I did not consider having or wanting a social life, as I was quite happy with the beautiful memories of the past.

What I did not expect was to suddenly find contentment and happiness living not only with a group of physically and emotionally impaired wonderful individuals, as well as many who are,  like myself, alert, socially active and for similar reasons as mine slowly moving on with their lives.

In addition, because I am determined to live my life in a positive manner, I found that despite many obstacles there are individuals with whom we can befriend and confide in, and even love, when that warmth cannot always be shared.

This blog comes from my heart, and I believe that each person - as they reach this period of life - can feel that excitement just as a blind person who cannot see, but can feel love and does so on a daily basis.

In closing, I urge you, the reader, no matter where you are on the road of life to stop and take inventory of who you really are and how you can begin to live every day of your life as if it were the last. In the final analysis we are given the choice of living until we die - or accepting death before we die.



“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe



Bernard ("Bernie") Otis is the author of the upcoming international bestseller, "How To Prepare For Old Age (If You Haven't Married Into A Wealthy Family)". If you have a question or comment, please send me an email to seymour.otis@gmail.com.






















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