Live Life like it’s the Last Lesson You’ll Leave Us.
Wow! It’s really easy to say the words “Live Life like it’s the Last Lesson You’ll leave us,” but it’s not an easy thing to do. At least not for most of us. Why? Probably because of the finality of the thought process that surrounds it being the last. The key to success in utilizing this powerful thought process is removing the finality and focusing on the way it can improve how we live each day and how much happiness we experience. It’s a way to hold ourselves accountable to living a life with good and sincere intentions.
In 2008, a book entitled “The Last Lecture” was published. Written by a computer science professor after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he didn’t want it to be a book about dying. Rather, he wanted it to be a book about living. According to the description on Amazon, he wrote about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment because time is all you have, and you may find one day that you have less than you think. I found great value in reading the book and began to consider if the way I lived my life mattered much.
My dad was in hospice care at the time, and I marveled at the way he was approaching his earthly finish line and the excitement he had preparing for eternity in heaven (Thanks Dad!). Around that same time a very close friend of mine had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While he passed away about a year after diagnosis, he spent that year teaching every person who knew him what was most important in life, and how we should spend each day, especially with every interaction we had with others (Thanks Dan!). I began to think of my role as a husband and a father and whether I was living each day with intention, and if so, why it mattered.
Also, around this time in my life, at a meeting with ten other men, the group was asked to raise their hand if they were ready to meet God TODAY. Stillness and silence, except for one hand that slowly crept upward. When asked why he had raised his hand, he explained that every day he tried to do his best loving God and loving his neighbor. He admitted he was far from perfect but that he always made an effort each day to be better than the day before and was constantly improving. I liked that.
The group had some deep discussion about both the uncertainty and unpredictability of which day will be our final on this earth. We all knew people that had died suddenly and people that experienced a long, slow and agonizing finish. In nearly every case, the conversation or experience we most recently had, prior to the person’s passing, was the one that was freshest in our mind and the one that we remembered most vividly. That’s when it really hit me. If we live each day of our life like THAT DAY’S THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND ACTIONS are what we’ll be remembered for, how should we act, how should we treat others, what should we say, what should we do? After all, each of us has complete control over our thoughts, words, and actions.
The thought process that began many years ago eventually morphed into “Live Life like it’s the Last Lesson You’ll leave us” which I’ve found to be useful every day. Perfect? Nah. In fact, when you first start to utilize it, you catch yourself about to think, say, and do things that you really don’t want to be remembered by and pausing just long enough to be intentional about this maybe being the last lesson you’ll leave to the people you care about and the people that care about you.
Admittedly, there’s been a few nights that I’ve asked not to be my last because I don’t want to be remembered for the way I acted that day. Just like you, I’m human. But what I noticed in myself over time was a growth of kindness, compassion, treating others with dignity, encouragement of others, helpfulness, being filled with gratitude, joy, passion for improvement in every area of my life, and more. All of that, I learned over time from this life lesson that now holds a special place in my tool kit for life. So now I live each day as if it may be my last. I attempt to create value in every interaction I have with others so that if it’s the last lesson I leave behind, it will be worthy for others to embrace.
But, what about you? Would you be willing to take this thought process of living like it’s the last lesson you’ll leave us out for a test drive for at least one day? At the end of the day, you can take a quick analysis of how it made you feel. Be prepared for how much better your entire day went with this simple mindset of doing your best in case that’s what you’ll forever be remembered for as the last lesson you left us. Not that the end is near, just that whenever the end eventually comes doesn’t really matter anymore. You’re living each day to its fullest. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!