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Linda Ellis & Mac Anderson
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Copyright © 2017 by Linda Ellis and Mac Anderson Cover and internal design © 2017 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Sourcebooks, the colophon, and Simple Truths are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations All selections are copyright to the contributors. Photo Credits Cover: Business stock/Shutterstock, ecco/shutterstock Internals: page 1, ecco/shutterstock/Shutterstock; pages 2–3, Business stock/Shutterstock; page 7, Matt Gibson/Shutterstock; page 9, oilchai/Shutterstock; pages 10–12, Mike Pellinni/Shutterstock; pages 12–13, Brian Lasenby/Shutterstock; pages 14–15, AVTG/ iStock; pages 16–17, Thomas Curryer/Unsplash; pages 18–19, Scott Webb/Unsplash; pages 20–21, Ben Heys/Thinkstock; pages 22–23, Ollinka/Shutterstock; pages 24–25, Dan Stark/Unsplash; pages 26–27, Olivier Tabary/Shutterstock; pages 28–29, Braxton Wolf/Unsplash; pages 30–32, Dan Musat/Unsplash; pages 32–33, mehmettorlak/iStock; pages 34–35, iStock/Thinkstock; pages 36–37, Danielle MacInnes/Unsplash; pages 38–39, Business stock/Shutterstock; pages 40–41, Bari Glew/Unsplash; page 43, JTKuehne/iStock; pages 44–45, Camila Cordeiro/Unsplash; page 46, Aaron Brunhofer /Unsplash; pages 48–49, gkuna/Shutterstock; page 50, Alex Blãjan/ Unsplash; page 53, jessicahyde/iStock; pages 54–55, Lukasz Szmigiel/Unsplash; page 57, Sergii Rudiuk/Shutterstock; pages 58–59, Sebastian Unrau/Unsplash; pages 62–63, Antoine Beauvillain/Unsplash; page 64, Kalen Emsley/Unsplash; pages 66–67, Cassandra Moore/Unsplash; page 69, Camilla Bundgaard/Unsplash; pages 70–71, Stas Kulesh/Unsplash; page 73, Ales Krivec/Unsplash; pages 74–75, Chris Leggat/ Unsplash; page 76, Sallie Michalsky/Unsplash; pages 78–79, Thomas Northcut/Thinkstock; page 80, Annie Spratt/ Unsplash, Matthew Smith/Unsplash; page 82, Milada Vigerova/Unsplash; pages 83, Logan Popoff/Unsplash; pages 84, Rula Sibai/ Unsplash, Susan Harrison/Photography By Soozie, Andrew Ruiz/Unsplash, Michael Podger/Unsplash; page 85, jonas unruh/iStock, Danielle MacInnes/Unsplash; page 86, Daniel Prudek/Shutterstock, Gabby Orcutt/Unsplash; page 89, Christian Jung/Shutterstock; pages 90–91, ggw/Shutterstock; page 92, Amnartk/Shutterstock; pages 94–95, rsooll/Shutterstock; page 96, David Lee/Shutterstock; page 99, wheatley/Shutterstock; page 100, HeikeKampe/Thinkstock; pages 102–103, Viktor_Gladkov/Thinkstock; page 105, Jupiterimages/Thinkstock; page 106, Martin M303/Shutterstock; pages 108–109, Volkova Irina/Shutterstock; page 111, Elena Elisseeva/ Thinkstock; pages 112–113, Tatyana Domnicheva/Shutterstock; page 114, Anton Petrus/Shutterstock; page 117, Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock, Nathan Anderson/Unsplash; page 121, Andrey tiyk/Shutterstock; page 122, Jason Vandehey/Shutterstock; page 124, Alena Root/Shutterstock; page 127, Sissy Borbely/Shutterstock; pages 128–129, Eric Gevaert/Shutterstock; page 130, maga/ Shutterstock; page 132, Robyn Mackenzie/Shutterstock; pages 134–135, Kushch Dmitry/Shutterstock; page 136, Maxim Tupikov Published by Simple Truths, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900 Fax: (630) 961-2168 www.sourcebooks.com Printed and bound in the United States of America. WOZ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Dedicated to the life of John William Hicks, the Dash between JUNE 12, 1930–JULY 5, 2004. Dad, I ’ll love you forever. —Linda
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Contents 6 Introduction by Mac Anderson 10 The Dash by Linda Ellis 39 How Will You Spend Your Dash? 41 Slow Down 45 True and Real 49 Feelings 55 Anger 58 Appreciation 63 Love 67 Respect 72 Smile 75 Change 79 Making a Difference 86 The Story behind The Dash
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90 The Power of The Dash 92 The Punctuation to Focus On 96 Benji’s Dash 100 Uplift Those around You 102 Making the Most of Your Dash 106 The Dash Pact 110 Transformed by The Dash 115 Words Worth Their Weight in Gold 118 Inspiring Others to Live Their Dash 122 Making Your Dash Matter 124 A Dash of Reconnection 126 Changing the Lives of Those around You 130 The Power of the Present 132 A Dash of Forgiveness 136 A Dash Just Started
140 About the Authors
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{ Introduction } I
remember it like it was yesterday. I had received a handwritten note from Anna Lee Wilson, a Successories franchisee from Evansville, Indiana, and at the bottom of the note was a postscript that read: “I know you have inspirational poems, and this is my all-time favorite. It’s titled The Dash by Linda Ellis.” Now, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve read something that stopped me in my tracks…words that bypassed the brain and went straight to the heart. This was one of those moments. I immediately thought… How could I use my talents to share these powerful, thought-provoking words with the rest of the world?
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I contacted Linda Ellis, introduced myself, and told her how much I love her poem. She told me how, in one afternoon in 1996, she was inspired to write The Dash. Her life, she said, has not been the same since then. And it hasn’t been for anyone who has ever read her powerful words either! That conversation sparked our publication of The Dash in 2005. Since we started Simple Truths, we’ve been blessed to publish more than 150 inspirational books, written by some of the best authors in the world. But of all the books we’ve created, none has had the emotional response of The Dash. How do we know? Because we’ve heard from thousands of people all over the world telling us how The Dash has touched their souls and changed the way they think about life. 7
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That’s what this special edition of The Dash is all about. It’s to celebrate life! It’s to thank all those wonderful people for sharing how The Dash has made a difference in their lives and to inspire you to make a difference with yours. I invite you to experience the power of Linda’s poem and the content of our original book. On page 90, you’ll be able to enjoy some of the wonderful stories submitted by our readers about the impact the poem has had in their lives. I hope they will inspire you to live your dash with passion! Live with passion,
Mac Anderson Founder, Successories and Simple Truths
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{ The
Dash
By Linda Ellis
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I
read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning to the end.
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H
e noted that first came the date of birth
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and spoke of the following date with tears,
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but he said what mattered most of all
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was the dash between those years.
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F
or that dash represented all the time
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that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.
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F
or it matters not, how much we own,
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the cars…the house…the cash.
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W
hat matters is how we live and love
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and how we spend our dash.
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S
o, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
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that can still be rearranged.
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I
f we could just slow down enough
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to consider what’s true and real
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and always try to understand the way other people feel.
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