I know they say you have to plan like you’re going to live forever, right? This is basically just to encourage that sense of responsibility. I get it. It’s just that sometimes I feel like we get so caught up in preparing for the future that we forget how to live in the present.
I mean, everything, even right down to eating right and exercising regularly. You will hear people say, “Because I want to be around for as long as possible for my family.” Working into the early hours of the morning because “I want to make sure my children’s future is financially secure.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at this. It all sounds really noble.
But not at the cost of missing out on now.
So for a few minutes, I want you to imagine that you had one week to live. How would you spend your final 7 days?
Would you cry for 3 straight days? Would you spend 2 hours in the gym every day? How much time would you spend mindlessly browsing social media? How much overtime would you put in at work, I wonder. Would you hold on to that 5 year old grudge? Would you eat the cake or the salad? Would you tell your crush how you really felt or would you keep dying inside every time he walked by? How would you spend your final week?
I’d like to think I’d laugh louder, love harder, hug longer and tighter. I would listen to my kids’ winding stories and laugh at every incoherent and idiotic fart joke. If I had one week to live, I would crawl on the floor with them and speak in weird accents. We would make a mess baking together in the kitchen and I wouldn’t make a fuss about it. I would not eat a single leaf of lettuce that week and you would be hard pressed to find a pea or a carrot in any of my meals.
I would saturate my atmosphere with loud music that speaks to my soul and I would write a love letter to all who have a space in my heart. I would write a birthday letter for my children for every year until they turn 40!!! I would go to the mall and try on fancy clothes in all the expensive shops that I never bothered to walk into before. I would do at least one crazy adrenaline-junkie type of thing like jump out of a perfectly functioning plane or off a steady bridge for no reason.
My point is, it would be a busy week. I think as someone with work and grown up duties, the only responsible thing to do is to try and do at least one of these silly things every week, in the middle of all the more “mature” things I have to get to. Without throwing away good sense, I want to live NOW. I want to try on a dress I can’t afford TODAY. I want to speak like a French restaurateur TODAY. I want to go sky diving….well…not today, but one day!! (LOL) You get my point. Feed your soul and pour into the souls you love today. Everything doesn’t have to be about tomorrow or 10, 15, 30 years from now. LIVE TODAY!!!
