Seize the Day

I recently celebrated a birthday. On Saturday night I lay awake in bed pondering.

"My life is at least a quarter of the way over," I thought. "At least 25% of my life has probably passed by already, and what the hell have I done with it?" I considered my shortcomings, the ways I haven't lived my life the way I should or the way I want to, and decided that I want to do better with the remainder of my life.

And then a sobering, frightening thought hit.

"What if 99% of my life is over and I just don't know it?" There would, of course, be no way of knowing such a thing.

Suddenly the question "what the hell have I done with it?" became much more real. It's easier, looking at the 75% of my life that I assume is ahead, to proclaim that I will do better in the future. But, as Dave Matthews wrote, "The future is no place to place your better days." What if today is all I have left?

When you look back at your life so far, what do you see? Have you lived the life you want to live? What do you want for your future? If you knew you only had a few days, months, or years left to live, what would you do with your time?

Don't wait-- start now. Mend the broken relationships, reach out to the people who are hurting, spend more time with your family, dive into that thing you're passionate about. Seize the day, every day, for the rest of your life-- whether that's just one more day or 75 more years.

What's stopping you?