Originally posted on Facebook HERE
This week I’ve been contemplating this: What if the end of life wasn’t open-ended?… What if we knew that, for instance – once we hit the age of 70 we’d just die peacefully in our sleep?… Would we live differently?… I think we certainly would in most cases. But, like everything, we’d all have our own opinions about exactly what it would mean for us. I think, for me – at age 64 – knowing I’d only have a maximum of six years left would really light a fire to get things done with the short amount of time I have left. And, really – that would probably be the biggest change. The older you get, the more pressure you’d feel to gets things done, to make sure your estate was set up properly, and to say your goodbyes. Knowing the last day of age 69 is your last day on earth, well… would you stay up right until the end?… it might be hard to fall asleep on that night. Maybe people would start to organize funerals around the certain night of death, so you could party with the people you love, lay down at 11:59 and peacefully pass with everyone there beside you. But life doesn’t work that way. Life is open-ended. And, one of the problems with that is that we think we have time. We think we can put things off. We can always take those music lessons, write that book, start that project, tell that person how much we love them, move to that area, start a new career, or make whatever change it is that’s on your mind – on another day. On some future day… “Someday”. I have news for you – “somedays” never come. “Somedays” are ways to put things off indefinitely and very seldom will they ever become a reality. In my book Feed Your Angel there’s a short chapter on this topic that discusses periodically looking at the “someday” shelf within our minds, and pulling each one out and replacing “someday” with “I will”… “someday” I’ll learn to play the piano becomes “I will” learn to play the piano, and then start making plans to do just that, find a teacher, set up regular practice times, etc… and if it’s not exciting enough to you to actually do that – then why is it even in your head? Because chances are you’ll never follow through. You’ll probably find at least one thing in there, though – one thing you’ve been putting off, justifying, figuring you have plenty of time to do it later… that will excite you when you say “I will”… Start that one now. Tomorrows are guaranteed to no one, and “somedays” never come… the only moment we have is now. If you knew you only had five years left, you’d feel the pressure to get going, right? Because there wouldn’t be a lot of time… Ah! – The idea that we have a lot of time stops us from doing a lot of things we’d like to do. I have news for you – we don’t have a lot of time. Every single moment is a gift. Life is full of ups and downs, and every moment is a gift. Every day we put off doing things, or saying things, is another day closer to never doing them. And then we die with our great ideas still within us. Let’s not do that. Check out your “someday” shelf today. Pull something out and either do it or start it today. Even if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll know you gave it a shot. Which is better than the alternative – dying with the music still inside you. With the book unwritten. With the loved one never hearing the words you were too scared to utter. “Someday” is now. It’s time to get going…
