You will not die tomorrow. Most probably. And unless you’re certain.
Think about it. Would you be able to work on your computer, if you knew that at the end of the hour, your computer would switch off, never to turn on again. Also, you can’t have a backup.
What if today was the last day of your life?
It’s a great question to ask your self everyday. It definitely helps us contemplate our choices. To keep our conscience in check. To love, not fight. To live, not worry. But that’s all, there’s nothing more to it.
It’s a thought process, an exercise, not a way of living. A habit similar to practicing gratitude.
Don’t live your life as it’s your last day.
You’ll get reckless. Honestly, you’ll never account to much. At least not as much as you could over a lifetime.
Instead, start appreciating life. You’ve only got one. Although you will not die tomorrow, you’ll certainly unlock that achievement one day.
Instead of living your life like you’ll die tomorrow. Realise that you’ve only got one life to live.
Please don’t throw the case of more lives at me. I’m born in a Hindu family. Reincarnation is the creation of someone’s procrastination.
I understand the idea of living as if you’ll die tomorrow has some appeal to it. Just let me introduce you to a similar thought process. I will not call it better. But it’s new, unless you’ve imagined it for yourself.
I thought of it in the middle of writing this post.
We will need only two things. One, a new clock, and I swear I’m not selling clocks. Second, a little imagination.
The idea is to imagine your entire life as one very long day.
Isn’t it?
Imagine your life to be a clock. It has days instead of hours. The sun and moon instead of minutes and seconds.
It sounds like going back in time. That’s how the early men must have done it. But you don’t have to keep up with the stars. I’ve already said I’m not selling this clock. But I’m selling an idea. The clock is there to help you understand it better.
Can you keep up?
“You’ve got brains in your heads” – Dr. Seuss
I’ve a weird sense of humour. I know it will be a failure on my part, if you don’t understand what I’m saying.
Stop worrying about running against time every single day.
In fact just stop running.
Relax. There’s no rush.
You are not falling behind.
Your days can be too short to do all the things you love. But your life is big enough to accommodate all you want. There’s plenty of room to fit everything, over a lifetime, though the same can’t be said for a single day.
Can you imagine all the things you can do in a decade?
Have you ever thought about reading a hundred books a year. Do you realise you could read a thousand over a decade. There are not a lot of people who are so well read. In fact forget the numbers. Forget your speed. Put in those hours, and one day you’ll be a thousand books old.
Wouldn’t you love to be a thousand books old?
Or a thousand trips old, as a traveler. Thousands of dates old as a lover.
Imagine all the movies you’ll watch. The music you’ll listen.
Think about how many acquaintances you will make. All the hands you’ll shake. All the roles you’ll play. The roads you’ll travel.
I want you to think about all the things you can do in a lifetime. Approach everyday with a sense of awe. I want the unnecessary running around to stop.
Stop worrying about missing stuff.
Focus on collecting the memories you most care about.
Today is the last day of your life. You have only hundreds of thousands of hours left.
Go.
Take a dip in the ocean.
Originally published at medium.com