Remember the last time you went for dinner or drinks with friends?
The last time you went dancing?
Or the last time you could still cough in public without people getting paranoid?
Of course you remember when it was. It wasn’t that long ago. But do you remember how that moment felt to you? Did it at all feel like something special? Or like just another moment in just another day?
If you would’ve known it was the last time. Would it have felt any different?
Most of us have heard of a “bucket list” before. A list of “epic” things that you still want to do before you die. It all started with a movie in which 2 terminally ill guys, decide to make such a list and do everything on it before it’s too late.
I’ve written a post before about how it’s a good idea to live as if you were about to die soon. Doing those things on your bucket list this year instead of waiting with them.
While I still stand by that idea, and it certainly makes you some awesome memories, there is another aspect about living like you’re about to die that is rarely talked about.
If you knew for certain that 1 year from now you would no longer exist… How would that change the way you experience all the “normal” or “mundane” things in your life?
What if you would die next week? How would that influence the way all the regular things feel for you today?
What if the next cookie, salad or steak you eat was the last one you’d ever eat in your life…would it taste any different? Would you make more effort to enjoy it?
How about a dry cracker? Could you turn it into a delicious treat? Just by being more aware of how nice it is that you get to enjoy this earthly delight one more time?
What if the next time you kiss your lover was the last time ever?
What if the next thing you worked on was the last work you’d do in your lifetime? Would you do things any differently?
What if the next time you talked to someone, it would be the last time you’d ever hear their voice? Would it sound like music to your ears? Would every word they speak carry a lot more importance to you ? Would you speak any differently to them?
What if today was the last day you had a healthy body? Would you pay more attention to all the different processes inside that body that make your existence possible? Would you slowly savor the sensations of all the life happening inside of you that you normally take for granted?
We always like to dismiss this as just a “theoretical idea” because we don’t like to think of the reality that it could be true. But every day really could be your last day. And if not, maybe the last day of the person you spend it with. Your last day of health. Or the last day something you consider normal is actually a thing. As evidenced by the last time you went for a drink with friends and literally had no idea what would happen in the next weeks.
Can you allow this realization to infuse your daily life with magic?
I invite you to try it today.
Imagine it was your last day on this world. Or at least the last day you could do these normal things.
Simply go through your day like you were going to. But allow yourself to truly feel how special every thing is. Look at them the way you’d normally only do if you were truly dying.
What if you could train yourself to feel that way every day? Even if only for a minute a day? How much would such a simple change do for your enjoyment of life?