I remember as a
psychology teacher way back when, I had my kids write their own epitaph. The idea was for them to consider their life,
how they’ve lived up to then, and write how they would want to be remembered.
I’m not sure
why, but this week . . . all this week . . . I was thinking about Helen Keller,
and the article that appeared in Atlantic Magazine that was titled, Three
Days To See. In it, she talked about
what she would do if she was granted the gift of sight for three days.
Sight is
something we take for granted, don’t we?
Perhaps like a lot of things.
Randy Pausch was
a professor who died of complications from pancreatic cancer. He is best known for his “Last Lecture” that
NBC News featured. He lived his life to
the very end- every last minute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
This link will take you to a wonderful talk he gave about achieving your
childhood.
In one of my
earlier writings, I wrote about Steve Gleason, a former football player who is
suffering from ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Gleason and a team of volunteers and family members climbed a mountain
even though he is pretty much confined to a wheelchair, but what I like most is
that Gleason is recording thoughts and memories for his son to remember him
by. Again, another example of living
life to the full, regardless of the cards dealt to him.
Which leads me
to today’s thought and something I want you to consider, perhaps on a deeper
level than one you normally go to when you read my writing . . .?
If you knew you
were going to die at a specific time on a specific day . . . let’s say, three
days from now, what would you do? How
would you spend your remaining time?
With whom would you spend it?
And, knowing that two days from now you would die, what things would you
say and to whom would you say them? What
thoughts, feelings, what emotions would you share and with whom? And, what
would you keep to yourself, if anything?
My first thought
upon reading the above paragraph is family- Kim, Hannah, Emily. Then I broadened that to my remaining
brothers and sisters, my nieces and nephews.
I’d throw in some very close friends, JT who is like a son to me. Others.
Those are the people I would want to spend my remaining time with.
As for what I’d
say or what I’d share, well, I think you know me well enough by now that I’d
urge them to live, really live. Not
waste a moment on regret or worry. Not
spend one second thinking about what should have been done, what could have
been done. I’d remind them that what is
in the past should be left there and that everyone needs to move on, move along
and keep going.
I don’t know
that I’d waste my time on a final great meal, unless it was with those I
mentioned above. I don’t know that I’d
spend the money to go to this place or that place to see this or that, again,
unless it was with those I mentioned above.
Because for me, the last two or three days wouldn’t be about seeing this
or that- it would be about spending some meaningful time with those who give me
great joy, with those who I’ve loved the most.
And lastly, I’d
probably tell them that if they shed even one tear, I’d come back and haunt the
hell out of them, because I’d want to be remembered with smiles and laughter –
because, I’ve said and done some really stupid stuff!
Okay, now that
you’ve thought about that, I have to ask you this very important question: what
are you waiting for?
Why should you
wait until the very end to do what needs to be done? Why are you waiting to spend time with those
whom you love, long for? Why are you
waiting to say what needs to be said?
Why are you waiting to do what needs to be done?
In whatever time
you and I have on this earth, don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time? Don’t
you think we’ve withheld too much of our thoughts and our feelings
already? This month, I turn 61 and I
figure I’m already on the backside of the mountain. I can’t waste any more time than I have
already. Haven’t you, too? Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers .
. .
I want to thank
you for taking a chance on a rookie writer by purchasing and reading my two
books, Taking Lives, which is a
prequel to my trilogy- the Lives Trilogy,
and Stolen Lives, the first book in
the trilogy. Taking Lives debuted on August 4, 2014 and has not left the top 50
on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers list. Stolen Lives debuted last evening and I
woke up to find that, as of this writing, it is #19, #64, and #89 on three
different Amazon’s 100 Best Seller lists.
Thank you!
For those of you
who haven’t yet, if interested, they can be found at:
Taking Lives:
Stolen Lives: