Live like you were dying
Even at my age, I live by the school year calendar. When a new school year approaches, I oftentimes find myself reassessing where I am, and where I’m going – not unlike what so many of us do the first of every new year. This post flows from that assessment and has been ruminating in my mind for some time now.
Maybe it’s my advancing age, or maybe it’s the wisdom that has come with my advancing age, but I’m constantly reminded how important it is to live NOW; in the present. We have limited time on this earth. Time is a luxury we can not afford to waste, and yet so much of our time falls into that wasteful category.
If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, wouldn’t you do all you could to squeeze every last drop out of your life? I know I would because I would have no choice in the matter.
But those of us who have not been given a medical death sentence do have a choice. We can be engaged in this only life we’ve been given, or we can waste it.
We can wile away the hours of each day lamenting what isn’t and complaining about what is, or we can live in the present and accept what we can’t change and do something about that which we can.
The truth of the matter is, we all have restrictors strapped to our lives. They may be physical or medical restrictors; financial or situational restrictors. No one escapes what life dishes out, but we all have a choice about what we do with what we’ve been served.
That’s a very heady responsibility we’ve been given.
I mean, wow, it’s my life, I get to choose how I live it. I can choose to remain as I am, or I can do something this very day to make things better.
Waiting even one more day means that’s one more day I will have wasted.
I’m not willing to do that, I mean . . . what if tomorrow brings about that death sentence I thought I had avoided?
Living: the ultimate team sport 
September 2, 2016 at 8:16 pm
A friend in her 80s tried to tell me I didn’t understand what a short horizon meant. But I’ve had enough young friends pass away suddenly that I think I do. Whatever our age, it’s important to make something of each day. Journaling keeps me focused on what I’m accomplishing. Thanks for the reminder, Irene.
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September 2, 2016 at 8:37 pm
Yes. Age isn’t the only factor that determines our lifespan. Thank you, Theresa, for affirming that fact.
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August 31, 2016 at 8:12 am
So true, Irene. We never know when we’ll take our last breath. Enjoy every moment of life!
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August 31, 2016 at 8:21 am
I oftentimes think of members of households who leave for work, or go on some other outing, who never return because a distracted driver, or some other road incident, takes away their life. When they pulled out of their driveway that day, they didn’t plan on getting hit, but they did. Whatever that victim intended to do later that day, that week, or that year, will never be accomplished. All that is guaranteed in this life is the current moment. Very sobering.
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