BY: CHRISTIAN HOLMES (@HOLMESYWRITES)
Red alert: the world is ending tomorrow. You're dying! You can't do anything to stop it, and even if you try, you'll fail miserably. Death is coming when the clock strikes twelve and now you're left to think about your life. What a crock, eh? Your life is over. So is everybody else's too, if that makes you feel better. All is fair if it ends well, right? But here's the thing… there's no guarantee that there is an afterlife. There's no guarantee that you will reincarnate into a new life form. So, in other words, what you did on this Earth will define your overall legacy.
So my question to you is, what is the legacy you will leave behind? A good one? A bad one? Or no legacy at all? When you start to think about your life, how do you feel? Do you feel happy? Did you accomplish everything you wanted to do? Did you set goals for yourself? Did you battle the things you had to battle in your life? Did you fight for what was right? Did you live your life? Did you find a purpose? Did you spend your time doing something that makes you happy? When you look back on your life as a whole, how do you think people will remember you… or will you even be remembered at all?
If you're one of those people that answered no to the vast majority of the questions asked above, why is it that you answered no? Is it because you felt that life was tough? Were you always finding it hard to survive? If you didn't set goals for yourself in the past, would you set goals for yourself now? If so, what would those goals be? What would you want to accomplish with your last day on Earth? Would you want to reach out to all the ones that loved you all throughout your life and tell them thank you? Would you want to climb a mountain? Would you want to go and explore the places in your area that you never explored before? Would you want to listen to new music? Would you want to read a new book? Would you want to talk to people you never talked to before? What would you do to make your last day on Earth special? What would you do to make you say to yourself, “it wasn't all that bad”?
You see, from my experience, often we don't really value the meaning of our time on Earth. We think the next day is a given. We think that life should come to us, we shouldn't have to come to it. Sometimes we think giving minimal effort will result in getting a maximum return. Maybe for some that is true, but for the other eighty percent of us, that is the farthest thing from the truth. You see, your life won't wait for you to take control and start living it to its fullest. Life WILL pass you by. Before you know it, all the stuff you wanted to do when you were younger, you never did, and for the most part, it might be too late to do it now. You'll have so many ‘what ifs’ to live with? What if I asked that girl out? What if I took this job? What if I went on this trip? What if I started going out on Saturdays when I was younger? What if I went to college? What if I lived my life?
Trust me, you don't want to live the later half of your life with regrets. You don't want to be traipsing through the utter dark, walking underneath the dead moonlight with great concern for what you have missed or how many bridges you have burned. You don't want go six feet under with a ‘what if’ legacy. Or maybe you do? Honestly, we were all born and raised to live beyond the heft and the weight of a world undone. Facing the world is not a challenge that only you have to amass. So what's your excuse? You get where I'm coming from here? Life is a precious thing! So why not live it? Why not face everything head on and make something of your life? I'm in the process of doing it. Bob from All In The Suit You Wear did it. Why can't you?
So as you sit thinking about your life and contemplating what you will do on your last day on Earth... Perhaps you'll do something worthwhile, perhaps you might not. But let's say you did and it turns out to be the best experience of your life. One of those experiences where if you died tomorrow, you could die happy. And than you realize it's time. It's time to say goodbye to all the things you once known. The clock strikes twelve. Everyone is dead. You start to cry. You start to regret all the things you didn't do. You say to yourself all the things you should've done, but now you realize it's too late. As you start to become obsolete, you start to hear a voice in the distance. Not once were you scared. The voice is calming and the voice is pure. The voice says to you, “I heard your regrets. I heard them all. You may be dead, but that doesn't mean hope is lost. With the snap of my fingers, I am going to give you a second chance. A new life. A revival. A rebirth! I want you to do everything you didn't do in your first life. I want you to pass on into the next life with no regrets and nothing but good memories.”
You see, I think everyday is a second chance. A rebirth. Every day we wake up in the morning with the chance to create new memories. To make new goals. To accomplish new things. Each new day is a gift. Yes, not every day is going to be amazing. Not every day is going to have a fairy tale ending. You're going to have your ups and downs. The world is going to throw you some curveballs, but it's not like you have to have the mentality that you're going to strike out every time. Have you ever thought about adjusting your approach? Have you ever thought of slowing your swing down? Isn't that what separates the all stars from the average joes? Their ability to adjust to how pitchers are going to approach them at the plate? All you have to do is get your timing down, time up the curveball and before you know it, you'll be hitting the ball on the barrel!
Nothing is ever easy in life, but that doesn't really give us the right to fold. Each and every day is a chance to do something special! Each and every day is a new chance to live your life to the absolute fullest. And if you're not doing that, you only have yourself to blame. So don't have a lifelong pitty party. Get up and face the world! Be that confident motherfucker you always wanted to be! Don't hold back! Make the world your bitch!
Now going back to the start, to all those questions you may have answered no to… with your ‘second chance at life’... do me and yourself a favour. Make some goals. Try to reach them. Accomplish the unaccomplishable. And live everyday like it'll be your last. ‘Cause, honestly, you never know when it will be your last. So when you do die, you can go into the grave happy. The legacy you left behind was a good one. You lived your life to the fullest and if you had to live your life again, you would not change a thing!
And for the ones that have goals. For the ones that are working hard to accomplish them. For the ones that already got the message… Keep it up! You're a real motherfucker! And trust me when I say this, you're going to go far in this life with that attitude and demeanour! Do me a favour and encourage those who may not think like you to gain a new perspective on life, because after all, life is too short to last long. Not everyone has the same background that you have, and that’s okay. It’s your job to teach them that new perspective! It’s your job to preach the ‘word’, if you will.
To finish this off, enjoy your second chance at life! Be who you always wanted to be! Don’t let this world overcome you! Good riddance to the bullshit! I hope you have the time of your life.
Until next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment