Write Your Own End Chapter; Giveaway Info
photo credit: UnfurledWrite Your Own End Chapter. I can't even remember where I heard or read this but it stuck with me & I have been meaning to write about it since then. I was going to write a whole post but then I read another great post that spoke to this! I know some of you have read on MizFit's blog & other blogs about the statement: What would you do if you could not fail? Well, I was reading a guest post from Lance, The Jungle of Life over at It's All About Joy titled, Life, Death, and Reflection. Lance put the quote below on his site & I liked it so put it here because maybe by doing what the quote says, you can start to think about the questions in this post.
"Only when the clamor of the outside world is silenced will you be able to hear the deeper vibration. Listen carefully." ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach
Now, for the post, Life, Death and Reflection, in which Lance asks us to consider how we might do things differently if we knew that today was our last day.
"Life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." ~ Rossiter Worthington Raymond
Life here on earth. I have come to believe it is a very special thing. Out of all the combinations of who we could have been when we were born, we are this unique "us" that we are today.
And as far as I know, we have this one time here on earth. In fact, maybe an even better way for me to look at this is in that what we have is this moment. Our days are made up of these moments, moments that become our lifetime...however long or short that may be.
Wow.
It's one of those subjects that is hard to fully grasp. Life is this big ball of unknown. We may think we have our life all compartmentalized, everything in it's place, and a place for everything. And maybe it feels all neat and tidy (or maybe not).
My truth today is that - as much as I do this, there are just all these unknowns in every moment of the day. Most of these unknowns are small, and not enough to disrupt the flow of our life, as we see it.
Except, every once in a while, there is some bigger "unknown" that gets picked up, as our "big ball of unknown" is rolling down the path we call life.
That all has me thinking today, about life...and the finality of our earthly existence in this thing we call life.
What if we knew? What if, on the day we were born, we were also told the day that we would die. And what if that age was as varied as real death is. Some would die as infants, some as children. Others in early adulthood, and yet others in the twilight years.
How would this change your thinking about life, if you knew?
If you knew that you had three years left to live, would you do things differently than if you knew you had thirty years left to live? And the closer you approached that magical "date," how would that change how you viewed life?
I suspect that if we knew the date of our death, it would change things. Maybe there would be some sense of urgency...in touching upon those things that have deeper meaning. Perhaps we would take more time to care. And love. And really "be" in the moments of our day.
An Experiment
Imagine with me for a minute, that today is your last day of life on earth. You know this. Physically nothing is different than it has been in recent years, it's just that you know that your time on earth is up.
Stop.
Stop for a minute, and let that thought really sink in.
{pause}
This is it. The end is here. Does this change, in any way, what your day looks like? Your last day here, on this earth, in this body that is you. Are there things you would want to say, want to do, want to "be" - in these last few hours? Things that you wouldn't be doing if you didn't know?
Where am I at in all of this? The honest answer is that my day WOULD be different if I knew this was my last one here on earth.
And that makes me wonder...wonder why is it that we might be willing to "settle?” Settle for something less than what rings true in our heart.
Are you "settling?"
Maybe you can answer this question with a resounding "no." I question, though, whether any of us are truly living in exactly the way we would want to be at the end of our days here.
Maybe we are close. Maybe not. And perhaps it is all part of that journey we are on, in this life we are living.
Our last day. Can we really do anything in those last twenty-four hours?
We may not be able to take that great adventure we had thought about. We may not be able to drive across country to visit an old friend. We may not be able to change our career to something more meaningful and engaging. We may not be able to able to start that hobby that's always floated around in our heart.
So, does a day really matter? Would anything change, really?
Maybe it's too late to do a lot of these things we have thought about. It is not too late, though, to call that friend. Forgive. Hug your family. Share a moment of deep connection. Love.
A day does matter. Today matters. It may be all you have.
Where Does That Leave Us?
Many of us will never know how long we have left to live. There's this assumption, I think, that our earthly life will be here tomorrow. And very likely it will be, for each of us. What if, though, the end is near?
What are you not doing, today, because you think you have that lifetime left yet?
PS: My blog provider was messing up again yesterday so if you missed my fun Sunday post, Truth and Lies, check it out! Sorry to my readers about this! For some reason, this provider seems to have A LOT of problems on their blog side & I have problems with them notifying my readers AND MYSELF of new post entries. I don't even get notification of the comments!ite to see that I got them! Sorry again!
Categories: Giveaway, Challenges, Motivation/Support, Life, Life Experiences, Inspirational Quotes
Tags: acceptance truth inspirational quotes aging inspiration life experiences
Great post - so much here. Definitely something to think about. I lost a client to a sudden death a few weeks ago. It really makes you think about living life to the fullest when things can change so quickly...
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So sorry Kat! It does make you think any time you lose a friend, loved one or even a work associate.
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Mr Very Right works for National Defense. Too many times a month he comes home with a single but powerful statement: We lost another one today. This tends to put life and death in our face on a regular basis, so we might live 'more in the moment' than other couples. But I am still guilty of trying to map out my life into nice neat packages. Just the other day, one little package was blown right out of the water. It's always amazing how hard it is to recover from a shattered illusion.
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Eliza, thx for visiting! Wow, you do have a lot to face each day! Thx for the comment!
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Jody,
Thanks so much for sharing this here today. It's something I've thought about recently, after the loss of a friend. And I'm grateful to both Megan and you for giving space for these words to be shared.
Life is this big unknown...and what we have is this moment, right now. Beyond that, while I like to think there will be many moments yet to come - there is also this this unknown around all of that. And that, over the last couple of weeks especially has reminded me of what is truly important in my life - the relationships, and those things that are close to my heart.
Thank you again for sharing this here today.
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Lance, so sorry for your loss!!! I love your writing & posts & love sharing them with others!
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I'm intrigued to see your review. I need that book LOL!
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What a great reminder. Sometimes we get caught up in the here and now and wear our rose colored glasses and can't see the forest for the trees. I loved this post.
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AFG, so true! Well said!
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Very nice indeed. I am almost wonder if, in this era (and pardon the supreme cynicism), the question should not be asked; "If you you were to get paid $5,000 for a every day well lived, how well would you choose to live your life."
Now I know Jody, that is a sucky perspective, and it's not one I feel I need to entertain personally, but I look around and see so many people who care a lot less about who they are the moment they die, than who they are when pull out their wallet.
I promise I'll play nicer tomorrow.
Thank you!
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No need to play nice. I welcome all comments as long as they are not mean towards someone or just plain ugly mean if you get what I am saying with that...
It is all about discussion!
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I had a Friend while in med school who said one day while we were talking about all of this, "I'm an imortalist! It's amazing how feeling you will live forever takes all the pressure off!"
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Dr. J, you always write such interesting comments!
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Deep stuff, but an awesome exercise. I was just talking to a friend about how we need to stop wishing it was Friday. Why can't we just learn to love everyday? Why do we wish the week away? Life is way too short!
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Joanna, I know! Yet, take a read at Cammy's comment.. a cute joke to make us laugh!
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Right now I'm trying to focus on living each day--each moment--as fully as I can.
But this reminds me of a cute joke:
Person 1 - "I wish it was Friday."
Person 2 - "Don't wish your life away."
Person 1 - *thinks* "Okay, I wish it was LAST Friday."
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Cammy, very funny joke!
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very thought provoking post, jody, thanks!
to be honest, if i knew when i woke up one morning that it was going to be my last day alive, i would want to just totally hug/hold/kiss my family and i would also totally pig out cuz at that point, the calories and my health wouldn't matter.
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love2eatin pa, I hear ya on the kids!!! I would probably enjoy some bread, cookies & cinnamon roll myself!
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That's what I was thinking! (love2eatinPA) I would be all over my family with hugs and motherly advice and listening to them. Then I'd hire the best chef and savor every bite. Any exercise or activity I would do would be with my family.
That's a painful thought.
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