Live in the now

"If you knew tomorrow was your last day on this Earth, what would you do? How would you spend your last day, hours, minutes?"

If you knew tomorrow was your last day on this Earth, what would you do? How would you spend your last day, hours, minutes? Think about it, figure it out, and then do it NOW. I always try my best to live with this in mind. We are never guaranteed tomorrow and everything can change in an instant.

Between the ages of 17 and 22 I attended about 8 funerals. All of them were 25 years old or younger when they died—most were actually younger than I was at the time they passed. These were not older people who had lived a long life. This was here one second and gone the next. It was a sobering lesson for me just how fragile this physical life can be. I’ve always been determined (hellbent is probably more accurate) to live my own life on my own terms but this experience really made me more determined to do so.

I’m not saying I don’t have my rough days or moments where I struggle to see the good in my current circumstances or situation, I do. And sometimes it’s easy to fall into the “rat race” mentality that society projects on us and forget or put off what’s really important to us, what makes life worth living, what makes our heart skip a beat, and what lights a fire in our soul. We always think we’ll have time. Or that people will always be there. But life is happening now. We should try to find a balance and plan for the future of course, but never at the expense of sacrificing the present moment. The present moment is all we have. The future is not guaranteed. Every day is a blessing and I do my best to remember that and find the joy in the present moment.

I may not know when my time will come but at least this way when it does come I will know that I lived MY life, MY way. No regrets. So just don’t take anything for granted and don’t allow society’s expectations and your own ego and fears to suck you into the perpetual pattern of putting off your own joy and fulfillment in the name of “security/safety” or a sense of obligation. The only obligation you have is to yourself. Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. Your life is now, enjoy it.