What would you do if today was your last day?
Would you do anything differently?
Would you live every moment as if it was your last?
The sentiment of this question and questions like this are meant to get our collective asses in gear and re-evaluate and reboot our lives. To shed the unimportant.
Be kinder.
More understanding.
More loving.
More helpful.
Reconnect with what’s important to each of us.
Concerns like this usually hit people at funerals, job changes, divorces, and other major life changes. We reflect. Go internal. Wonder what has become of our lives…our passions…our goals.
Us.
We all get caught up in the minutiae of having to eat, sleep, and clothe ourselves…most of us feeling with have to “settle” for rungs of the ladder that fall far short of our lofty goals…then we fall into depressions…cultivate shitty attitudes…and grow into miserable old men and women nobody wants to be around….
But does it have to be that way? Is there a better way?
If today was your last day on earth, what would you do differently—and why aren’t you doing it now?
While each of us are still alive, we can always change our lives. It’s never too late. But (I maintain) it all starts with our attitudes. I’ve said this before, but everything exterior begins with our interior. We don’t just blindly take action to anything without first having an internal consideration: thoughts. So, to change our exterior, with need to change how we think. Our attitudes.
If we want a better life for ourselves, it starts with thinking differently about ourselves.
Sure, we’ve made decisions throughout our lives that have taken us to “this” point in our lives…but it’s never too late to change. To say “no” or “yes” and make a life (it doesn’t have to be “major”) change. We all have to do something while we’re walking or crawling this oxygenated rock orbiting an average yellow star…but, in the interim, we can effect changes to our lives by taking the first step inside ourselves. Changing our point of view about ourselves…changing the way we think about our lives, while looking for new avenues to explore. Being open to new opportunities that “suddenly and miraculously” present themselves, once we’ve changed our attitudes.
Life…if nothing else…is about change. So, why not have that change work for us?
But don’t look to others for those answers…for the answers to changing your own life…only you can do that. Each of us are the only ones who can change our own lives…and having more money or children or shiny new anythings won’t change any of that.
Giving things away isn’t the answer. Sending philosophical confetti upon the masses won’t do that—though makes for great music videos.
Understanding who you are…taking a concerted stock in your own life…
Feeling loved.
Loving others.
If today was you last day?
Make it the beginning of an entirely new life.
Eat an amazing meal off Wen’s belly, make love, soak up the sun, talk about REAL things (feelings and meanings) with my sons… and make a long list of what I’m thankful for.
Oh, Karen, you always bring a smile to my face (and most times an “LOL”—like with this comment!) and say something I never expect! Ha! Don’t ever change! :-]
I really like this post, Frank. (I also really like that Nickelback song! Motley Crue also do a similarly fab song called “If I Die Tomorrow”.) I definitely agree that a change in attitude is what leads to changes in life. At the very least it gets the ball rolling in the right direction. It’s very easy to dwell on all the bad. But when your focus is the negative, you miss out on all the good that surrounds you too. I do believe that (at least to a certain extent) you can “think” yourself happy. That means you can also think yourself into a sad, depressed mess. And oh, man, is that easy to do. It can be a daily struggle to keep from slipping into that gloomy state. And once in that gloomy state, then we start making bad life choices. “Settling” for less than we’re worth. And that never bodes well for the long term.
I did learn the hard way that you can’t count on everyone getting a tomorrow. If you love somebody? Tell them today. Don’t wait. Say thank you, be kind. Leave the negativity and the drama for people who want to be miserable. Like you said, getting new “things” will not make us happy. Not the kind of happy that lasts anyway. Change how you look at the world around you and you might be pleasantly surprised at how much your life starts looking up. 🙂
Thanks, Wendy!
And like your comment, end your last day with a smiley face, cause we all gotta go sometime of something, so we should all have put forth our best efforts at life….
How true As they say, no one is guaranteed tomorrow, but we all sure act like we are. Now’s the time, though, to live, love and forgive. Good post, Frank!
Thanks, Paul! Live in the present…which can very well become tomorrow…which becomes the present…. :-]