what would you do?

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way.  Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. ”  Fr. Alfred D’Souza

Today someone asked me this question, “What if you only had 24 hours left to live, what would you do?”   It is an interesting question to ponder.    What would I do if I knew I only had 24 hours left.    One person answered the question with, “I’d call all my friends that I haven’t talked to for a long time.”    Now you could imagine how surprised they would be if you could actually call all of them.  “Hey, I’ve got 24 hours, 12 hours, 10  hours, 4 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour left …”, what do you think they would say?

Can you imagine what your last 24 hours could be like?   Would you want to know 24 hours in advance?

For the people who would say, “I’d call all my friends”, wouldn’t it make more sense to call them today because we really don’t know when our last 24 hours will be.   Why not contact them today?   Another person responded with, “I don’t want to talk to them until it is my last 24 hours.”, it seemed like an unusual reply.

Every day is potentially our last day.   For many people life will begin tomorrow.  I’ll put off playing it big.  I’ll put off learning something new.  I’ll put off improving a relationship.  I’ll put off making a difference.   What are you putting off until tomorrow?

That is what is surprising about the question is that we are holding back on life until tomorrow believing that it will be better then and we wait and wait and wait and pretty soon, it really is the last day and there is no more tomorrow to start living your life.

Years ago I talked to people who said, “I wish I could have done that, but now I am too old.”   If you have a dream start moving towards it today because that tomorrow that you are hoping  will come when you are ready isn’t going to come to you, you have to go to it today.

What career are you putting off until tomorrow?

What relationship are you waiting to fix tomorrow?

What new class are you going to take tomorrow?

When do you really want to start living your life?  Tomorrow?

Live each day as your last day.  That doesn’t mean spending money and having a big party everyday.  It does mean putting your dreams into action.  It means creating powerful meaningful goals and going after them because that is what will produce value.  Cherish your relationships and if you don’t have any, create some.

What do you dream of doing?   What is stopping you from living that dream?

Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.  ~Stephen Vincent Benét