THE WIDTH

Poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman once wrote,

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to live the width of it as well."

According to Wikipedia, Ackerman has packed a lot of adventures into her seven-plus decades of life: She has done field research in Patagonia, Japan, Brazil, Hawaii, the Amazon rainforest, and Antarctica. 

She can even claim the honor of having a particular molecule named after her - "dianeackerone" - a sex pheromone in crocodiles. 

Now that is something to put at the top of your resume!

I don't know if Ackerman is a believer or not, but I believe the pinnacle of what she is describing as "the width of life" is what Jesus would call "abundant life". (John 10:10)

It is tragic for a Christian to "get through" life when we could be seeking joy and fulfillment in those good works that God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

I wonder if there's a limit to how much God could cram into our days and weeks if we let Him.