Carpe diem. Living every day like it's your last. Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today. No one ever complained on their death bed that they wished they'd spent more time at work.
Yesterday, I found out that one of the professors at my school died at his home on Sunday. Just died. He was born in 1943 -- the year my dad was born. He had beat cancer the year before. He went to the doctor that Friday complaining of a cough and was dead 2 days later.
It's not as if he hadn't led a full life. Grown children, successful career, author, teacher, mentor. But that doesn't really make it alright, does it? He had more to give.
And that's what gets me the most. I have more to give -- and I'm not dead or dying as far as I know. Instead, sadly, I'm living like I've already given it everything I've got. WE'RE living like that. And of course, the reality is that we're already dying, a little more each day. Which isn't a sad thought to me, just a little wisp of tuth. Something to keep us honest.
I didn't know this professor well. Really only by name. But he got me thinking. He is teaching some folks right now, for sure.
The last several years have been full of "wake up calls" and close calls. But I've been too damn busy and absorbed in the minutae of life to listen much. Maybe self-absorbed. Aren't we all to some extent?
We say it a lot, but come on now, isn't the bottom line that we're just all a little scared to sieze the day, live life to its fullest? I know I am. Because living a bigger life could mean bigger disappointments, crises, risks, sadness. It could also -- I really hope -- mean bigger rewards.
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