You often hear the words of advice [or suggestion to take heed too]:
- “live as if today was your last”
- “what would you tell your ‘such-and-such’ year-old self today?
- “what would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
Sometimes I blame it on auto-philosophy (when asked a question or suggested something) raking the question across the coal and combining it with a fine-tooth comb) but at the end of my sorting it out, thinking it through and answering it; I feel good that either I learned something new/a new way to think of, or look at a thing (or I simply conclude the question or suggestion seemed ‘deeper’ than it actually was useful or borrowed stole my time contemplating and thinking about.
- Like, to “live as if today was your last” (whether written down as a ‘bucket list’ of sorts or in our hearts and minds) many of plan things to do, people to see and places to go before we die). If we lived today like we were dying (for the most part), that mean we’d we’d need the time and money right now-today (to get it poppin’) and well, that’s just not possible (even if you had the goal in life to travel to certain places) come tomorrow a 24-hour day is just not enough time to get that part of your ‘places to go’ off your list-especially considering you’d most probably yet to get to your ‘people to see’ and ‘things to do’).
- The reality of that question: I’ve ascertained that since it’s impossible to live today as if it were your last (literally), it is possible to live (today) feeling and doing like it was your last day and as if you got all your: things to do, people to see and places to go before covered. Sorta like: treating your self, your day, and even the world around you like that feeling when you are at dinner and your serve comes with the food. Think of it that way.
- That: “What would you tell your ‘such-and-such’ year-old self today?” question. If you’ve evolved and come to terms with your past as being something that is very much apart of the ‘you’ today, then (like me), the only advice I have for my (then) self is: “Go ahead, keep living how you are living and doing what you are doing with the people you are doing it with and later without along the way for whatever reason, for-those experiences and people are instrumental in making ‘you’ who you are right now.
- The reality of that question: Even listened to all the people (then) who TRIED to tell my (then) self (and I adhered to what they said), I certainly wouldn’t be who I am today. I’d be some version or prototype of them. I happen to love myself, who I am and the woman I’ve become that knows that as a spiritual force that I am-I am a physical, mental and emotional journey (even still). And all praises due to me being okay with who I am today (without the need or words to ‘go back and tell my ‘such and such’ year-old self). Although (as ‘deep’ as that question sound, the reality is, with the exception of ONE thing told to me as a youth: “Don’t ever question God ‘why me’ about your son being blinded and given to you. Don’t ever ask that question to God. You are chosen.”
Other than that, I (like many of you) didn’t even adhere to the lessons and suggestions told to our hard-headed young selves, so why would I go back and (today) and think I could tell me (then) any different?
- That: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail” question. “Fail” is the operative operating word here as, most people would do a whole sleuth of things that they want to do if they could predict the reward in it. By our human nature were are motivated by incentive and typically, that comes from being rewarded for a goal or task. Whether that ‘reward’ be financial, extrinsic, or personally fulfilling is relative to the beholder.
- The reality of that question: What we would do if we knew we could not ‘fail’) would most probably be contingent on what we felt the (personal) reward in it for us was—personally.
Didn’t mean to give an extensive philosophy class session on thinking about [your] thinking (or thinking about questions being proposed to you), but it did provoke thought for you (which was my intent).
Now: think about all three (for yourself). What did you come up with (combing through those often proposed questions often thrown at you)
- “live as if today was your last”
- “what would you tell your ‘such-and-such’ year-old self today?
- “what would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
…and like after-like I just explained, how would you answer them now? (as opposed to how you answered them before reading through to this point?)
Well, as you may well know, via OSF’s FYI channel (and a few of our other channels), when specific articles that
