(The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book”10 – A Story of Love, Life, and Loss” soon to be published by Balboa Press, and available at local bookstores or on-line at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com):
I had a great discussion with my daughter and son-in-law the other day about living life to the fullest. Bill said: “Most people think they should live each day as if it is their last, when what they should be thinking is they should be living each day fully because death only has one day. You only have one day in your whole life to die and a multitude of days to live. So make that your focus.”
The two statements seem to be similar but, in essence, they’re not. The first statement “Live each day as if is your last” puts the focus on death and its power in your life. Your fear of it is what makes you live each day fully. Visually, it is a series of small connecting beads with a big, giant bead at the end.
ooooooooooO
The second statement “Live abundantly for all the days you are given for death, itself, only has one day” says it in a new way. Your life is filled with a multitude of days to live and just one day to die. So put your focus on the living days, not the one day death is given. Visually, it looks like a series of big rich full beads ending with a small one.
OOOOOOOOOOOOo
It’s a subtle but powerful difference. Death may seem a fearful outcome, but when we put it into perspective it is but a moment in our entire lives. So live your “wild and precious life” (Mary Oliver). Live every day of it. Let it be a strand of glistening pearls.