Live Life Like You’re Dying (11/9/2011)
Too many people put off until tomorrow the things they want to do today. Personally, I am a goal oriented person and manage my life with short-term and long-term objectives. For example, with the change of seasons in north Georgia I am very conscious regarding preparations for winter: cutting and splitting wood, testing space heaters, and making sure outdoor water pipes are winterized. Easy examples, but yet also easy to put off until a storm like the one that hit the northeast is upon you.
Recently my wife and I have been watching the television show “24” from its beginning. In the second season the character George Mason is poisoned by radioactive material and knows he will die within the next seven days. Although he does not know specifically whether he will live days or a week, he begins making amends with his estranged son. Of course, this is fiction, but somberly reminds me life can change instantly. This past weekend two men were killed in a plane crash outside Williston, Florida. I knew one of the men, Mike Fuller, and planned to meet with him next week. In an instant, his life ended tragically.
Movies like, The Bucket List, Eat Love Pray, or Soul Surfer win our hearts in the theater due the common theme of perseverance against formidable odds. In each case a goal is set, and a plan executed to ultimately triumph over personal tragedy or dreams. I am follower of James Altucher’s blog, “JamesAltucher.com” and last week he wrote a column titled, “The #1 Most Effective Habit” that articulated the same points I want to make. First among them is being proactive. Too often I meet people who tell me they want to travel, write a book, or even learn to fly, but all succumb to excuses and the “naysayers.” Altucher challenges his readers to start by making a list, eliminate the “bad people” and most importantly just get started.
Over the last three weeks I have published a book, Clearly Ambiguous, hiked Yonah Mountain, and had a weekend away with my wife. None of the above is significant, but like the life goals in The Bucket List they incrementally take me to a better place in my life. Over the same three weeks I met a young man who hiked the Appalachian Trail last year and I read an article about 17 year-old Taylor De Lay who circumnavigated a homebuilt aircraft around the United States. I am guessing during the same three weeks many people did nothing, going to work, watching television, and griping about their misery. However, anyone can make a change in their own life.
So my question is, “what would you do differently today if you knew you were going to die in the next week or month?” My follow up question is obvious, “since you know you will die (someday – we all will die), why aren’t you living your life like your dying?”
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