What If This Was Your Last Week To Live?

The future is an illusion which allows us to procrastinate and believe we have time, when all we ever really have is the present moment -- the here, and the now.  What if this was your last week to live?  Only seven days left to make the most out of a life you assumed would last forever. Only 168 hours to jam pack everything you’ve ever wanted to do and everywhere you’ve wanted to go before you die. What would you do? Would you quit your job? Would you confess your love to a secret crush? Would you travel to the place you’ve been dying to see but never took the chance to visit? Would you blow all of your money in Las Vegas on gambling, strippers, and drugs? Would you hide under a blanket and waste away full of regret? Or would you continue living your life as you have been?  Did you accomplish all of your goals? Or do you have unfinished business here? If the latter, why haven’t you taken care of it yet? For reasons out of your control? Because of fear? Or because you assume you have all the time in the world to do it?  What type of legacy would you leave on Earth? What type of imprint would you leave behind? Is it solely a professional one with awards and accolades from your successful career? Or have you changed and impacted the lives of those you met during your time here on a deeper level?  Are you happy with the answers to these questions? This whole concept popped into my mind while sitting at the coffee shop doing some work on my laptop. I wrote about this much down until I had to stop myself because of the overwhelming amount of emotion heating up in my stomach, chest, throat, and face.  (I’m here, still writing, pushing through. Hi.) Is this overwhelm a sign that I’m not living my life to the fullest? Is this what it feels like to have an existential or quarter-life crisis? Or maybe it’s a sign that I’m afraid of dying and death. Either way, I should be able to write about this without feeling like I’m going to cry.  There is one person that I’ve ever met who said that he would be content with dropping dead in the blink of an eye. He claims to have lived life to the fullest and there’s nothing left for him to do here, so he’d be fine with dying at any time.  I don’t understand how anyone can feel this way. I certainly don’t feel that way. I want to live. There’s so much life to live. So much left to do. Accomplish. Experience. Say. Write. Create. Fulfill. Are we living life wrong? Am I living life wrong? The cold, harsh truth is that we never know what’s going to happen -- today, tomorrow, next week, or in five years down the line.  You can walk outside and something tragic and accidental can happen that drastically shakes up your world as you knew it.  You can visit the doctor and receive a terminal diagnosis.  We need to make the most of life right NOW.  The future is an illusion which allows us to procrastinate and believe we have time, when all we ever really have is the present moment -- the here, and the now.  If this was your last week to live, what would you do differently? Which dream destination would you visit? To whom would you say “I love you” that you’ve never said it to before? What would you immediately check off your bucket list? Would you regret working the role you’re currently in instead of following your true passion? Think about that. Then take action.  Do it now.  Go there now.  Say it now.  Take the risk now.  Change your life and follow your heart and pursue your dreams in order to be happy TODAY. Live life to the fullest -- starting now. Because the “now” is all we have, and we never know when it’ll be too late.   Share your answer(s) to these questions below, and please share this post if it resonates with you.