Today I read the often quoted statement to “live each day as if it were your last." But this time, I did not just dismiss it as the same old trite saying I’ve seen many times before.
I actually thought about it and wondered what I would be doing if it were indeed my last day on earth. And I concluded that I would like to be doing exactly what I had planned to do on a rainy Sunday: Read, write, and enjoy the day.
Most people would say they would want to be with their loved ones, call their kids, say goodbye, make amends.
I just don’t see it that way. First of all, I can’t imagine my last day on earth spending all day on the phone. And I have a lot of kids and a bunch of grandchildren living in three different cities and two countries. I have a lot of nieces and nephews and a brother and sister, and my mom, and a lot of other relatives that I’d want to call. What if I actually forgot someone? Thank goodness I would not be around to see how much I hurt them by inadvertently not calling them, or by simply running out of time. After all, the clock is ticking!
Making amends would not make too much sense to me either. This is the way I see it: If you have to make amends with anyone on the last day of your life, then you have not lived a very good life. The way to live is to allow yourself to make mistakes, to get angry, yes, even to hate someone if that makes you feel better. But then, just let it go. And I am talking specifically about those people that you would call on the last day of your life.
Same holds true for people you love. Are you really going to call everyone and tell them how much you love them? Why wait for the last day? Why not do it now? Because I tell you my friends, if you have to do it on the last day of your life, then you have not lived a very good life.
On the last day of their lives, many people see themselves busy with paperwork, organizing their stuff, burning their journals (that’s probably me!), house cleaning (there I go, again!). But I’ve thought about this, too. If this were the last day of my life, and I was not going to be around tomorrow, then tomorrow I’m not going to care less about bank accounts, paperwork, or dirty toilets. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t even change my underwear, and, for the last day of my life, defy my mom’s warnings to always wear clean underwear in case something happens!
My advice, for whatever it’s worth, is to make sure you are “complete” in every facet of your life, in your relationships with those closest to you and those with whom you have contact every day at work, at the supermarket and at the post office. To put aside old angers and apologize if something you did years ago is still bothering you, and to ask for an apology if something someone else did to you is stopping you from living a full life. Be complete.
My favorite Ziggy cartoon said: “Life is a gift, otherwise, why would it be called the present?” I love that. Stay present and enjoy every moment, with no regrets. Life your life to the fullest, without looking back or looking ahead That way, when your last day comes, you will know it was a life well lived.
