While on my way to work the other day, I had country radio on and good old Tim McGraw’s, “Live like you were dying,” came on. For those of you unfamiliar with the song, it tells the story of a man in his early forties that gets the news he doesn’t have long left to live. Suddenly for him; time became motionless. He could have remained frozen there until the end, but he didn’t. He took off to ride bulls, sky dive and be the man to his family he should have been in the first place. Luckily for him he doesn’t die as predicted and in looking back at how the prediction of his imminent demise changed his life, he encourages us to live our lives as if we were dying, because it was the best thing he ever did!
It is hard to hear that song and not ask the question, if that happened to me, what would I do? What changes would I make? What would I be doing differently or have done differently if I knew the end was near?
We all make serious life decisions everyday with little or no concern about the quantity of time left in our lives. It only occurs to us when we are in crisis that maybe we aren’t doing what we should be doing. Only when it is too late do we ask why am I here? I mean after all, you don’t know how much time you have left, so why be wasting it? For sure when we do actually get some free time to do something that should be making you happy, how many of us have opted for the quiet comfort of an easy chair and done nothing at all. Now a good rest is not a bad idea given the stress factors most of us face everyday, but if you find yourself sound asleep yet wide awake in front of the TV, time can pretty much have gone motionless for you already.
If that has happened to you, then why not follow the advice of Sam Smith who asks us all to get up and walk outside and see what we have been missing. His first chapter in, “Why Bother,” has us going outside and suddenly being surprised by all the bodies we see. We would be amazed at what has been going on while we attended to business and kept the lights on and our bellies full. Our government when we last checked on it had three parts. You will see that is pretty much gone. That free press we thought we had has gotten a lot less free. NBC did a piece the other night on how we shouldn’t be using some many of those new fluorescent bulbs because they cost so much, and then added the disclaimer that they are a parent company of General Electric which makes the old fashion bulbs.
So what are you waiting for? Don’t wait for that crisis to act. Its time to get up and live like you were dying, before you are! Happy Easter…
The Time Pieces 