One Year…

If you were told an irrefutable truth that 1 year from now you would be dead, what would you do?

I know most would naturally ask, “How do I die?” For this moment look past that.

If you had one year left to live, what would you do? How would you spend your last year?

Would you wake up and go about in the same routine? Would you drag yourself out of bed and make your way to the job that you hate? Would you lock yourself in your house out of fear of the unknown? The questions abound: Do I go to church? Do I go back to church? Do I get angry at the world and plot to take people with me into the unknown?

Believe that for a moment there are no right or wrong answers.

If you could do anything, what would it be?

Where would you go? Who would you talk to? What new experiences would you try for the first… and last… time?

Would the grudges you have been holding for years suddenly seem so inconsequential? Would you lose all hope and end it now with the unknown an bearable given?

Could you find it in the deepest parts of yourself to embrace it and truly live life the way it was meant to be lived? Could you bring yourself to experience the unknown horizons and uncharted waters?

The truth is a truth that no one wants to admit: We do not know which day will be our last.

We make plans and build “toward the future” when in reality, our futures are never guaranteed. We are not promised a tomorrow. We are not promised success. We are promised nothing.

Here’s the damnable misery of it all: If we so choose, “nothing” is exactly what we will get out of life.

This is not an original concept at all. I am no philosopher. I am 26 year-old, small business owner. I don’t have a right or wrong answer for you. Only questions. So all I can speak about are my own experiences and thoughts.

The way I live my life is what most “logical” people call foolhardy. I think of my goals and dreams in terms of months, not years. I am defiant of the social-norm for life, love, and responsibility.

I am a family man through-and-through. They are a huge reason why I live the way I do. Don’t get me wrong, I try not to engage in foolish activities or unsafe practices (drugs, etc.), but I absolutely, without a doubt, live without reservation.

I have lost friends because of this. It’s sad. My heart truly breaks for the friends I’ve lost. Although I’ll offer an apology whenever someone believes that I have wronged them with my “stupid sense of urgency about all matters”, I do not apologize for wanting to embrace the life I have left.

However long that may be.

What about you? What would you do with your year? Where would you go? What do you think you would see? I honestly want to know, because you may give me a clue about where I’ll be headed.

Jonathan Fields, himself a family man and life renegade has a great blog up about making an impact. Do read it if you have a moment.

Neither of us invented these thoughts, but never the less these thoughts remain.

Let’s start sharing some thoughts on the subject…