A five-minute snooze

In my dreams I had been tracked down

By a wolf, and a bear, and an old toy clown.
The alarm went off, and I hit the floor,
And I groped for snooze, and I slept five more.
I did not then know, I did not then see
I had just sealed off what my life would be.

I was five minutes late to the parking lot,
So I missed the woman deep in thought,
Who’d locked her keys on the driver’s seat
(She was gone by then, so we did not meet),
So I didn't help, and she didn't laugh
At the joke I’d heard from the office staff.

And we didn't date, and we didn't wed,
And we never named Danielle and Ed,
And we never saw them cross the stage,
And we didn’t help each other age,
And we never did the China trip,
And I wasn’t there when she broke her hip.

I did not then know, I did not then see
I had just sealed off what my life would be.
And I never learned what a life I’d lost,
What a five-minute snooze in the morning cost.

A matter of life and death

An observation:

You cannot really live until you have died.  You cannot fully experience life until you are willing to lose it.  Every action in life requires a kind of death.  In order to live with God, you must die to this fallen world system.  In order to live as a plumber, you must forgo being a pharmacist.  In order to marry Susan, you must forgo marrying Jane.  In order to develop a solid friendship with Bob, you must give up time with John. 

The man who fears dying, who fears restricting himself to one God, one profession, one wife, one set of friends, will never really live.  He will wander through life indecisively.  In his hesitation to close off career options by becoming too specialized, he will join the ranks of neither the pharmacists nor the plumbers (though he might deliver pizzas to both of them).  Unable to decide between Jane and Susan, he will be merely a groomsman in both of their weddings.  He will talk about sports and the weather with with Bob, John, and a thousand other acquaintances, but have no real friends.  Through fear of death, he will miss out on life.  He will die.

The man who does not fear death, lives life.  He dies to a transient world system, and gains an eternal God.  He dies to pharmacy, and becomes a reliable plumber (and orders pizza).  He gives up Jane, and marries Susan, and raises Elijah, Brigita, etc.  He gives up a thousand potential friends, and invests in Bob.  He gives up a thousand potential lives, dies a thousand real deaths, and really lives.