During conversation with a friend this week, the question came up: If you knew for certain that you only had one year left to live, what would you do? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. None of us really know how long we have to live. There are no guarantees that any of us, no matter how healthy we are, have even a year left to live.
Not that I am trying to sound morbid, or that we should all sit around lamenting that we may soon be dead, but I think it is very telling about ourselves when we try to answer that question. How many people would answer, "I would do exactly what I am doing now!". The fact that so many of us are spending our lives doing what we really don't want to do so that someday we can "live" the way we want is very sad, indeed.
So, for me the answer is that I would quit working so hard and do some things that I love to do. I would begin writing so that my thoughts and ideas would not be lost forever and that I would live on after I leave this world. I would travel all over the world. I would spend more time with my family and just enjoy life. I would spend more time in prayer and getting to know Jesus more intimitely, since I will soon be spending eternity with Him. I would laugh more and cry less.
Maybe I have a year left, maybe I have 50 years left. But the real question is, why can't I start living my life now as if it were the precious commodity that it is? I want to make a promise to myself that I will try as much as possible to live this next year as if it were my last. If I can accomplish that, I believe it will truly be the happiest year of my life.
