Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Well, I’m back in Wisconsin. It’s beautiful out today. Three weeks in Florida just blew by. New book written, typed and sent to the editor. Done. Read it for the first time on the plane ride home. And twice yesterday I wound up having conversations about the main message of the book, which is called “Everybody dies – A Manual for Life”. It’s a book about examining everything in our life in a systematic fashion to make sure we’re spending our present moments in the best ways possible to lead a life of happiness, joy and fulfillment. What if technology advanced to the point you went to the doctor for a physical, and he told you you were going to die exactly a week from today, at exactly the same time he gave to the diagnosis, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it? My guess is your life would change. With a hard fast one week left, it would probably change significantly. What if it was one month or a year?… you’d make changes in those cases as well, but each time you add more length to the time you have left (we’re assuming good health through the date of death here to make a point), the changes would be less significant. You just need to know the day you’re going to die. Since we have no idea what day that will be, we tend to live like it’ll never come. And so we waste time, we do things we don’t like to do with people we don’t like to be with, we work jobs we can’t stand just for the money, we don’t take care of ourselves physically or emotionally/spiritually, because in the back of our minds we just always think there will be time to get to all that stuff (making changes) later. But the only time we can control is right now. Everything that has ever happened to you, everything that ever will happen to you is only your perception of the past events, and you’re belief of what you’re capable of going forward. None of it is reality. Are there things you’d like more of in your life? Things you’d just as soon cut back on or eliminate? Why haven’t you already done it? You write the script that will become your future. Are you still working from the script you wrote ten years ago? Maybe it no longer serves you. Every moment is precious, we get very few of them no matter how long we live. No one will get out alive. Start realizing your time is limited, and start doing the things you know will add value to your life. What is the one thing you could change – just one thing – that you could change today, and commit to going forward for one year, where at the end of that year you’d look back and say, “wow. I did it!”… do that. You might not be here to try it next year, so stop living like you’ll never die. Death reminds us to live – as fully as possible. And celebrate the time we got with friends, family, and pets that pass before us. What a gift we were able to share our lives with the special souls that pass through our lives. Everything is always amazing, even when it feels like it isn’t. Life will have ups and downs. We decide how we want to feel about it, though. Sometimes we forget that. And way too often we forget how precious every moment is. Spend them wisely, you never know when you’ll run out.
