How to live like you’re dying.
How about we take away some of that stress? What if we gave you something quick and easy that you can actually win. Like a system to organize medical information that will actually work for you.
A system that will save you a ton of stress and overwhelm, and we will give it to you for free…
The truth is, no one is promised anything and tomorrow might never come. Which means you have to work really hard at doing the important stuff while you can. You have to live like you’re dying.
We get one shot at this life…And one chance to make it amazing.
When my Dad found out he had cancer, he was struggling (severely) with all of these crazy symptoms from a syndrome called Paraneoplastic Syndrome.
We are coming up on a year now and those symptoms are still much more problematic for us than the cancer has been.
He didn’t get the chance to go on any of those last-minute fishing trips or enjoy traveling to any new countries before this thing got totally out of control.
And there was no warning, everything just kind of happened.
The moral of the story, don’t wait until you’re facing a tragedy to appreciate this amazing gift that you’ve been given. Enjoy your life right now today, because who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow.
So, how do you live like you’re dying?
It’s’ pretty simple, you focus on the things that matter and then you do them…
Live each day like it’s your last:
If today was your last day on earth, what would you want to be doing? You should be asking yourself that exact question every single day?
There are things you can’t control. You probably still have to work, you’ll still have to pay bills and (taxes).
This new found knowledge, unfortunately, will not give you any less responsibility but it will change everything about how you look at the world. It’s a commitment that you have to make. To live like you’re dying, every single day.
Be present:
Spending your entire life hiding behind your phone is not living. Set an amount of time (at least an hour) a day and hide your phone.
It will require a small amount of sacrifice to live like you’re dying. Do anything else during that hour, but the rule is, you are not allowed to check your phone.
No Facebook, no Facetime, no text messages, no email. You’ll live, I promise.
An hour a day will change your entire life…
Create a bucket-list:
Figure out the “must do’s” for your life? The things you absolutely can’t miss? Write them all down.
There should be huge goals; trips to Europe, RVing across the U.S., a month-long cruise (you’re probably sensing a theme here!) But, also consider smaller things like a museum you’ve always wanted to see, a restaurant you’re dying to try or a full day reading on the beach.
Take days off. Spend your time doing the things you love. Travel, exercise, paint rocks if that’s what you’re into…
Find the things you love and do them. Stop putting your passions on hold or saving them for a rainy day. Live like you’re dying… like tomorrow is never going to come.
Spend time with the people you love:
The best thing about this whole cancer experience has been the amount of time that I have spent with my parents.
We used to spend a ton of time together and then like everything else, life gets in the way. Work is crazy, the kids have soccer games, you’re being pulled in 10 different directions and there is not enough time.
Make time:
Figure it out, because you don’t get this time back. Any of it.
No matter where you are in life, make sure that the people you love know it, and that you spend time letting them know they are important.
Stop putting things off:
Do what you love today. It’s so easy to put things off and do them tomorrow, and most of the time tomorrow doesn’t work out. So many people put their lives on hold.
Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. How much time any of us has left, is a mystery. For me personally, I feel like it’s better to assume that you have no time. That’s what it really means to live like you’re dying.
Prioritize your life:
Focus your time and energy on the things that matter to you. Stop wasting time on things and obligations that don’t matter. Before committing to something, make sure it’s something that’s important to you.
Cleaning the house, for example, is something I spend HOURS on. If today was my last day on earth, would I want to spend it cleaning the house? Nope, I wouldn’t.
I’m not saying don’t ever clean the house, I am saying don’t waste hours on it! Stop wasting time on things that don’t matter and focus on the things that do.
Figure out what you want:
What do you want more than anything? I actually had no idea what I wanted until I was assigned to write it down. Talk about powerful, this assignment blew me away.
I was taking Rosemarie Groner’s 90-Day Budget Challenges… And there is a whole section in her Budget Workbook that asks you a series of questions about building your dreams and what you want your life to look like?
Map your whole life out and write down exactly what you want it to look like… Financial, career, family, health and fitness, goals, dreams, wants, needs, all of it.
- What are the things you can’t live without?
- Who are the “main characters” in your life?
- What are the things you want more than anything?
Figure out what you want and write it all down (heads up, mine is 8 pages). What are the things that matter to you? Why are they important?
Do the things that make you happy:
Commit to doing at least one thing a day that makes you happy. But first, you’ll have to figure out what those things are.
Is it spending time with your family? Watching your kids play soccer? Dinner conversation at the dining room table? Church? Reading? Journaling? Exercise?
Don’t let time pass you by.
What makes you happy? How can you incorporate these things into your day?
Plan for the worst:
What do you want, if something happens to you? Don’t make your family guess… Give them some direction, start them out with a plan.
It’s not a super comfortable discussion, but it’s an important one to have.
- Do you have items that you wish to leave to certain people?
- Do you have a designated person to care for your children?
- What about your pets?
- What should happen to your house?
- Or your car?
- Do you still have payments on them?
What if you are in a coma? Or unconscious in an accident? Who can make medical decisions for you? What are your wishes?
Funeral/Service:
I am a firm believer that the funeral services are for the people you’re leaving behind
Nothing will ease the pain of death but hearing the stories and sharing memories about your loved one really does begin the healing process. And while grieving is NOT easy, it helps tremendously to hear stories you’ve never heard before, or about conversations you never knew existed.
Here’s the bottom line, you get one chance to rock this life and, in the end, you’ll want to live it without regrets. You’ll want to live like you’re dying.
So, I’ll ask you again. What would you be doing if tomorrow was your last day on earth? Live by that question.
Spend some time figuring out what you want, who matters, and which things are the most important, and then go out there and get them.
It’s that simple.
You get one shot at this life. Make it AMAZING!
P.S. If you’re overwhelmed by all this cancer business, we can relate!
The Cancer Binder Pack will walk you through the quick and easy system we used for organizing medical information.
Step-by-step instructions, printable forms, and monthly calendar pages so you can ALWAYS find what you need when you need it. And, the best part it’s FREE…
You can get the Cancer Binder Pack here…
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