Who says you will live to 100 or even until tomorrow? You want to believe it. You should believe that every day is going to be a great day – and well used day.
The only way to use each day to its maximum is to live it like it is your last day. Do what you love. Do what you believe in. Maximize the gift you have of a day.
People who think they have “forever” are less likely to make a plan and stick to it. Since we don’t have an expiration date – and would you really want to know? – keep on trucking like you have lots more days to accomplish what you want but be proud of each day!
Let me illustrate some examples:
1. You are driving home from a fun holiday party and hit a patch of black ice. You veer off the road into water and ice filled ditch. Paramedics find you ten minutes later. You aren’t breathing but they are able to revive you. For the rest of your life you will require round the clock care, feeding and breathing tubes, and will be unable to communicate. Is that the end of life you want?
2. Your car veers into the path of an oncoming car. You live but you have no memory, sight and no use of your arms or hands. Every day is pain filled. Nothing brings you joy. Communicating requires specialist to figure out a way to get you to nod your head. Your depression is so bad that you constantly think of dying but you couldn’t do it yourself because you are too incapacitated. You hear talk of a speculative operation about to be performed on you. How do you communicate? The costs will be awful and the outcome could be worse than now. No you think…no!
3. You watch your diet. You work out faithfully. You limit your drinking to a few nights a week and even then not to excess. One day you can tell that your speech is off. You ask friends but they say it is in your head. You try to forget it. Things get worse. Finally you go to a specialist who runs what seem to be a hundred tests. End result? You have MS. Life will change forever.
4. At an awesome party at your old college fraternity house, the deck off the 2nd floor rips off sending the 20 friends onto the ground – many falling on top of one another. You can’t feel any part of your body.
You get the picture? Life throws us curve balls. You can’t plan for any of them. But you can make the most of every single day. Live life fully!! At the same time, have your contingency plans – your living will, will, power of attorney and other wishes all set up. Not needed? Great. You know they are there and done. Move on to living!
