Postcard

People noticed that as the Chofetz Chaim grew older, he increased his activity in the study of Torah and chesed. When asked to explain this phenomenon, he offered the following parable: Life, he said, is like a postcard. At first you write in large, bold strokes and indulge in pedestrian commonplaces-“How are you? I wish you were here,” and similar platitudes. But as you come closer to the end of the postcard and realize there is preciously little space left for the really important message you want to deliver, you begin to write in packed sentences, with no superfluous words. Life, he concluded, is like that postcard: The older I get, the more concentrated must my activity become and be focused only on that which truly counts.