We are all going to die. I don’t mean to be a downer, just the opposite: I am reminding you of your mortality to wake you up to the gift that is your life and urge you to make the most of it. Wallace Stevens said, “Death is the mother of beauty.” Life is precious in part because it is finite. And yet how often do we postpone doing something that will improve our lives, as if we had infinite time? We put off getting in shape or job-hunting or whatever and continue to tolerate feeling crummy or being unfulfilled. We live in response mode rather than generative mode.
We turn down the volume of life to a dull hum. What are we waiting for? One of my clients recently underwent a successful stem cell transplant that has miraculously put her blood cancer into remission. She hasn’t been cured, but she’s alive and determined to live her life differently. She sees the opportunity and feels the urgency of whatever time she has, and we’re working together to make her life count. Shouldn’t we all do the same?
