What if time were not on your side? What if you were running out of months, weeks days? What if your number was up, and you were not long for the planet? Would you reflect and regret, wish for something different; to have seen more, done more, been more? Would you have wanted to live a different truth?
Many are currently quietly fighting battles for which there is no victory, other than peace. Many are living lives that are not full but diminished by illness or by suffering. Some have been told of their fate, some are waiting on the news, still others have no idea what is coming. Some have embraced it as a gift, learning and living more in their last days than all the days before, some are resigned, some have accepted, many are walking a path of grace.
For anyone who has this day and perhaps more in store, we may want to take a look at the life we are living, and use this precious time, to do what we need to do – live the life we were are meant to live.
Years ago, I participated in an exercise that changed things for me. I was in my early twenties, lots of time, plenty of promise. I was asked to write my obituary, not an easy task; to imagine that day, that final day, and what my life might represent as I faced my end. The idea was to imagine the life you want to live, and to write down how you might like to be remembered, what legacy you would leave, what contribution to the world you would make along the journey. Then, once you had written it, and were happy with this life you led, the idea was to go out and live it; by looking forward and reaching back, you could pave the way.
At some point, it will be too late to go back, to do or undo. Time and space, and age and health will determine what we are able, no matter what we dream. Perhaps today, if you are in good health and have a vibrant spirit, you can live the life you imagine, long before the story is written about you, you can actually WRITE your own story, starting now.
And while the journey is often filled with challenge, for the most part, we stand in our own way. We doubt that we are able, believe we not worthy, talk ourselves out of what is possible, and into what is probable. We pile our reasons high enough to cast a shadow on our dreams, and we walk a path that is most traveled, fearing what we don’t know, can’t imagine, are not sure of. We leave it all for later, believe there will be another time, when we are more comfortable, better suited, have enough money, time, energy, inspiration; when it feels right.
Well, time is running out, whether you know it, believe it, or acknowledge it. Every day, the chance to live the life, YOUR life, the one you are meant to live, is slipping away. It is not about how much you accomplish or earn, where you travel, what you own, the degrees or accolades you accumulate, how many know your face, listen to you talk, or show up at the end to wish you well. It’s about living the life, you and only you were meant to live, the real and authentic one that was gifted to you at birth. It is not about proving you lived a big life, a great life, a loud life; it’s about knowing you lived the right life, the right life for you.
For me, many years have passed and I have now lived on the planet longer than I will remain. My obituary has changed with me and with time and it now simply reads, “I walked this earth. I tread lightly. I loved deeply.”
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