I’d like to introduce you to a buddy of mine. We’ll simply call him [Buddy] for the sake of his privacy.
In recent years [Buddy] has drastically turned his life around:
He’s been traveling the world, he’s wearing more colorful, attention grabbing clothes and he’s become very vocal about some unpopular opinions he has. I don’t agree with everything he says . But I love the fact that he finally dares to fully be himself.
I don’t know what he’s up to most of the time. But when we talk, he’s always in some far away country living the good life. He and his girlfriend also have become happier, more open, less jealous, and are both exploring their sexuality in ways they didn’t dare to open up about in the past.
Now here’s the part I didn’t know until I hung out with them 2 days ago:
Apparently [Buddy] is dying. In fact he has been dying for a while and should already be dead right now according to the doctors.
When I heard this it immediately struck a chord with me.
Are we so afraid to get out there, and fully be the person we long to be, that it takes death itself to get us to finally start living?
After that talk, I decided for to start living as if I had some kind of terrible terminal illness and only had 2 years to live at best.
Many of us have a bucket list. But that list doesn’t very urgent or motivating if you think you still have 50 years to live, does it?
The point is that you’re not sure if you still have those 50 years. You may have them. But it is just as possible that you’ll die unexpectedly in 6 months. It may sound scary to you, but hat shit happens.
Ask yourself these questions:
• What (or who) has been stuck on that bucket list for months, maybe even years?
• Are you still leaving anything important unsaid towards some people?
• Are you still holding back from sharing your opinions or emotions publicly because you’re afraid of getting judged or hurt?
• Do you still have any unfinished business or desires that are not getting fulfilled right now?
• What have you been procrastinating on that you really want to get done?
• Why haven’t you listened to the new Wasted 24/7 album yet?
• If you were to leave this world 1 year from now, what do you want to have contributed to this place. How would you want the world to remember you?
It shouldn’t take a death threat to finally start doing the things you’ve always wanted to do.
Don’t let the dying be more alive than you 😉