By. Garrett Guzman
Any way you look at it, life is short. Whether you are blessed with 10, 40, 70, or 100 years on this earth, life is still short. You may be thinking that if you make it to 70 or 100, you’ve lived a full life. But only you can answer that; as length does not equal fullness (in laymen’s terms: quality over quantity; if you’re blessed with both, even better). There is a famous quote from Pope Paul VI that reads, “Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” Obviously, as we reflect on this past week, and the loss of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and the other seven victims, this holds more truth than ever. When they got on that helicopter that morning, none of them thought it would be their last time to tell their parents, spouses, children, or friends that they loved them. But we don’t know; none of us know. And while Kobe may have grabbed much of the headlines, there are people that pass every second of every day (please wrap your head around that fact). I was reading an article a few weeks ago that really pulled me regarding the top five regrets people have on their deathbeds (morbid I know; but stay with me). And they are: “I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” “I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.” “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.” And finally, “I wish I had let myself be happier.” (Borrowed from the book entitled The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing). Starting today, if you haven’t started already, let’s each choose to live a life true to ourselves, work purposefully but also moderately, express our intimate feelings of love to those around us, spend more quality time with friends and family, and be grateful for everything we’ve been given in this life, including today. We can’t waste it, because we never know when it could be our last.
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