You’ve heard people say it. Maybe you’ve said it yourself. It’s almost a daily mantra for some people. Here it is: “I have no life.”

While away from Sanpete a while back, I got together with an old high school friend. When we were planning a time to get together, he said that whatever worked for me would be all right for him because he “had no life.”

My friend is single, has a job and spends lots of time in front of the television watching sporting events. Those things take up most of his waking hours and equate to “no life” in his view. (I mentioned this to someone later and he said, “Sounds like a good life to me.”)

I personally feel like I’m good at life and that includes my ability to multitask. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at once.

So, what constitutes “a life?” I suspect that it’s a question we all ask ourselves in one way or another occasionally. We wonder if our lives have value relative to others. That kind of thinking is a dangerous trap. Or we sometimes ask ourselves, “Is this all there is?”

There are 28,000+ people that I know of who have a life. A Sanpete life. I know some people outside of Sanpete who don’t believe that “a life” is possible in Sanpete. That’s their perception and I’m not going to try too hard to convince them otherwise. Part of the reason we have our “Sanpete life” is because they aren’t here.

Sanpete is full of people with full lives. Due to our sparse population, everyone has to pitch in to make things work. It takes everyone to be involved. Involvement makes “a life.”

We need church people. We need volunteer firemen. We need civic club people. We need school helpers. We need search and rescue people, E.M.Ts, local government people, committee people, library boards, etc. etc. etc. It goes on and on.

And then, of course, “a life” includes family and friends. Being the parent, grandparent, brother, sister, son, daughter, aunt, uncle or whatever (my genealogical knowledge only goes so far), that we should be, will fill up a big part of “a life.”

Being an involved friend and allowing others to be involved as a friend with us makes for an important component of “a life.”

The truth is “a life” is what you make of it. It’s like so many things – attitude and perception make all the difference. If your definition of “a life” has to include millions of dollars, being a certain height or weight and having the appearance of a runway model, perhaps your definition needs adjustment.

I believe that most of us who say that we have “no life” know deep down that we’re whining about something that we, to a large degree, have control over. We know that compared to much of the world – the lives we lead are good.

So – if you don’t feel like you have a life – Get involved and Get One! Sanpete is a great place for “living life large.”

— Merrill

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