Motivation to REALLY LIVE before you die.
“This changed my life.” —@positivelatitudes
It may sound perhaps a bit negative for a GOOD NEWS site and simplistic but many in this Western society hold back due to the unspoken fear of death (and other things) – and before we know it we come down with cancer or some other life-threatening malady before we can really embark on that Bucket List or life goals that we’ve put off.
‘Hi, I’m Kate Manser and I’m just so happy to be alive.
“I’m the creator of YOU MIGHT DIE TOMORROW. Here’s my story.
In the span of six months, three friends died in unrelated, unexpected tragedies. I developed a fear of death that began to take over my life: I would imagine getting hit as I crossed an intersection, envision how the phone call would go when I got the news that my mom died, and avoided taking any risks out of fear.
A year later, my colleague and adventure idol Dan Fredinburg was killed at 33 years old in the Nepal earthquake while climbing Mount Everest. As I struggled to make sense of the loss, I realized that he knew he might die climbing that mountain, but that he had to climb it to truly live.
Everything changed for me: I realized that I have absolutely no control over when or how I die — but I have complete control over how I live until that mystery moment comes.
All of the energy I spent on my fear of dying was channeled instead into living every day like I might die tomorrow.
For us, it may not necessarily be a fear of death but more about procrastination and forgetting that LIFE IS SHORT and DON’T PUT OFF FOR TOMORROW WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY.
Since then, I have made major shifts in my life to better align with how I want to live. I left my job at Google to embark on a two-year trip to learn about the world, life, and myself. I created YOU MIGHT DIE TOMORROW and wrote a book about everything I have learned. But no shift has been as radical as my shift in life perspective: I live urgently, love wildly, and am so grateful to be alive.
I created YOU MIGHT DIE TOMORROW to help people like you really live before you die. The movement is now made up of thousands of people around the world.” -KM
Time has a way of sneaking up on you and many of us baby boomers are at the age when friends and our generation compatriots are dying at a seemingly alarming rate. But, no, we’re at that age when people die. And, scary to say, but realistically, we could be among them. Life is not guaranteed. Life should not be taken for granted.
It’s not that we don’t have SOME control over our lives. We do and SHOULD take care of ourselves as we can, but at the same time we should be ENJOYING life by the time we get to our SEVENTIES or probably much younger. If you’re much younger, you’re lucky and can get a head start , learning from others who have experienced loss like Kate Manser and ourselves – a wake-up call that even saved my own life when doctors told me the bump on my chest was nothing BUT TURNED OUT TO BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAVE KILLED ME AND I WOULD NOT BE ALIVE TODAY IF I HADN’T TAKEN IT UPON MYSELF TO DO WHAT MY ‘NEW’ INNER VOICE TOLD ME TO DO.
So, the message here is just about LIVING, not existing. It doesn’t have to be about climbing Mt. Everest or risk-taking feats. It can be simply about enjoying the Spring sunrise while walking your dog. It can be about taking on a new skill or, for me, religious learning and practice which has given my life new meaning. It can be about living for not only yourself but also for loved ones whose lives were cut short – sharing the messages of loved ones, in reverence, as a sort of religious experience (as I have chosen to do). There are so many ways one can enhance their life, while often enhancing the lives of others.
Most people I know seem to travel a lot when they get older. I haven’t traveled much lately for , perhaps, some fearful reasons and maybe I should. But, I’ve found joy in other ways without having to travel miles to achieve enrichment. I traveled earlier in my life but now find a lot of new things I’ve never done before that seem to make me enjoy life now perhaps more than ever.
For those who need motivation you may want to read Kate Manser’s book ‘You Might Die Tomorrow So Live Today,‘ But, you may not need or want to read Kate Manser’s book yet, if nothing else, let her overall message be a reminder that life IS short and to try to enjoy life NOW while you still can.
