life is indeed too short essay

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Life Is Short

In Life Is Short , Most Popular , Pep Talks , Rants and Sermons by David November 16, 2010 291 Comments

This isn’t really one of those helpful photographic posts, so if you’re jonesin’ for info on what gear I’m packing for New Zealand, you might want to just kind of move along 🙂 But I’m bursting to say these things, and I’m hoping someone out there needs to hear. I do.

As some of you know there’s some big changes coming down the pipe for me and I’ll give you a full report as soon as I can. I’ve fought the urge to make these changes for a while now and something finally cracked.

I had breakfast with a close friend of mine yesterday and it’s that meeting that is making me write this, because I can’t keep it in this morning. His wife, one of my favourite people on the planet, is fighting for her life against inoperable brain cancer. She’s fighting, but she’s not well, and the doctors are talking in terms of quality of life, not healing, not remission. My heart is breaking for her. My heart is breaking for him. A young couple that, like all of us, thinks they have forever together, have all the time in the world to chase their dreams. But we don’t. None of us do. It’s an illusion.

Life is short. We seem to think that we’ll live forever. We spend time and money as though we’ll always be here. We buy shiny things as though they matter and are worth the debt and stress of attachment. We put off the so-called “trip of a lifetime” for another year, because we all assume we have another year. We don’t tell the ones we love how much we love them often enough because we assume there’s always tomorrow. And we fear. Oh, do we fear. We stick it out in miserable jobs and situations because we’re afraid of the risk of stepping out. We don’t reach high enough or far enough because we’re worried we’ll fail, forgetting – or never realizing – that it’s better to fail spectacularly while reaching for the stars than it is to succeed at something we never really wanted in the first place.

A woman emailed earlier this year. Her husband, the love of her life, was a fan of mine and he’d just come through a tough fight with Leukemia. She asked if I’d take some time with him, go shooting with him if he came to Vancouver, sort of as a celebration of his recovery. I said yes, of course, how could I not. But I was busy, about to travel, and could we do it in a couple months when summer rolled around and I had time to host him. Of course. Let’s talk soon. I got back two months later and sent an email saying, let’s make it happen! And 5 minutes later got a reply telling me the leukemia had returned with speed and fury and within days he’d gone. Even now, I’m writing this with tears, though anyone that knows me knows it doesn’t take much.

We think we’ve got forever and that these concerns that weigh us down are so pressing. We worry about the trivial to the neglect of the most precious thing we have: moments we’ll never see again. We talk of killing time, passing time, and getting through the week, forgetting we’re wishing away the moments that comprise our lives. We say time is money when in fact the time we have is ALL we have. Money can be borrowed, time can’t. We fear taking risks, unaware that the biggest risk we run in playing it safe is in fact living as long as we hope and never doing the things we dreamed of. And then it’s too late. We watched our favourite TV shows, we fought a losing battle with our weight, we picked up the guitar once in a while and never quite finished the french language courses we wanted to do. We managed to get a large flatscreen and new cars once in a while, but the list of things we’d have done if we could really, truly could have done anything, kept growing. And we never did them.

I don’t know how to wrap this up. There’s no resolution. I was in Sarajevo last week thinking about all this; I’d be walking the old city thinking how amazing it was, looking into the hills that surround it. And then it occurred to me, just over 15 years ago the citizen of Sarajevo that stood in this spot was likely to be hit by mortar shells or sniper fire. We’re all terminal folks. We’re all in the sniper scope. We’ve got less time that we think. For every ten people that email me and say, “I wish I could do what you’re doing. I wish I could follow my dreams, I wish, I wish…,” I wonder if even one moves forward. I hope so.

Whatever your dream is, find a way to make it happen. Your kids can come with you. Your job can wait. You can find someone to feed the cat. I know, I know, there are so many reasons we can’t and some of those reasons are valid. Life is not only short, it is also sometimes profoundly hard. But I think sometimes our reasons are in fact only excuses. If that’s the case, take stock. I talk alot about living the dream, and I’m an idealist, I know it. But it’s not self-help, positive-thinking, wish-upon-a-star. It’s the realization that life is short and no one is going to live my life on my behalf. And one day soon – because it’ll seem that way, I know it – my candle will burn out; I want it to burn hot and bright while it’s still lit. I want it to light fires and set others ablaze.

Life is short. Live it now. And live it with all your strength and passion now. Don’t keep it in reserve against a day you might not have. While the ember is still lit, fan it to flame. Be bold about it, even if your circumstances mean all you have is to love boldly and laugh boldy. Because now is all we have, and these dreams won’t chase themselves.

End of sermon, thanks for listening. I just kind of needed to get it out there. It wasn’t the point of this but if you’re the praying type, send some mojo out for my friend and his wife. God knows who they are. 🙂

PS. If this post has moved you in some way, why not nail your colours to the mask. Read my subsequent post HERE .

This post has deeply moved me ever since you wrote it in 2010. I try to revisit it at least annually.

To me, it is especially vital now, living as we do in the time of Covid-19. I want to find a way to follow your guidance, even now. Especially now. We will not all survive this; how do we make the best of everything, all things considered? Only time will tell. But I do not intend to rest by the wayside until it passes; there must be something more I can do. Your words and inspiration will help me find my way.

Be well and thank you for everything you post!

It’s amazing to visit this web page and reading the views of all friends on the topic of this post, while I am also eager of getting knowledge.

I do agree with your nice sentences. Lets try for life in order to obtain our logical dreams , but if we trust on our kind GOD who is aware of future , we will not be depress if we fail . GOD is our creator . As you know no one can lead his creature in the best way , except the owner .So by believing in GOD beside TRYING we have to abandon hopeless and negative energy . GOD KNOWS WHAT IS OUR EXPEDIENT.

I have sent this comment from Iran. I wish you would obtain your dreams which are the same as me best wishes

This is the most touching sytory ever. I hope oneday I can follow my dreams and live my life and fellow my dreaems. Thanks david.

I’m really satisfied i came across this particular inside my seek for a really essential factor relating to this.

Believed it was in fact descriptive. I came across this web website in Bing, thank you significantly.

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Seize it, Sarah. Milk the courage you have now for all it’s worth. Celebrate the all-clear report but don’t ever forget that we’re all terminal. We’ve all got so little time to enjoy so much life. 🙂

Just been for a scan for an ovarian tumour and it’s clear. Have been doing deals with God. Wondering what the hell I have been doing with my life until now. Life is short. Have printed out your post and stuck it above my desk in case I ever, ever forget my prayers were answered. x Sarah

Dear David,

This morning I heard a work colleague passed away rather suddenly, and I realised how fragile our lives are, I wanted to let you know how appropriate you blog has been, thank you…

I am sending bit of it to my family, I really hope that I will be able to make the changes needed in my life…

This is wonderful. Life is really very short. My prayer is that God should help us remember that always.

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Thanks David! I was in a doubtful state for the last few years, thinking of what to do with my life, my loved ones, my family. Your writing inspired me a lot to take the decision that I needed to! The time is running out and it should not be wasted! Truly life is short, it’s very short indeed! Thanks for those true and inspirational words!

extremely true ,i used to worry a lot a lot about things in life even smaller ones extremely beyond limits and make it miserable thinking what i ve done in the past and be depressed for months and weeks together!! im 19 yr old and dis is the core part of my life,henceforth i will remember this always ,”Life is short ,very short” and make the best of each and every moment therein…….ALSO MY FRIENDS PLZZ DO SUGGEST ME WAYS TO LIVE MY LIFE…….

Beautifully written. We need to be reminded of this everyday. Life is so short. XO Cheers

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Truly inspirational. Thank You

Thanks and thanks. What can I say, thanks again.

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That moved me trememdously and it is a great post. i agree, sorry about your friend and his wife, i mean, sometimes tragedies occur and they could be gosh darn devastating, however, unfortunately even if you’re a doctor sometimes they’re just incurable and there’s nothing you could do, i mean, look, the fact is i’m just a person just like everyone else, you’ve received a plethora of replies but the fact is words can’t bring the dead, i understand why you wrote everything about that life stuff, you just wanted to get you’re emotions out to the world, you know, life is just capricious and everything that happens is totally random and that’s why our future remains a mystery and nobody knows what it holds, me too, as a matter of fact, i live in the moment, i have great appreciation for life regardless of the circumstances i live in because i’m still alive nevertheless and someday i will have the chance to become somebody, now, i’ve got to tell you something, many people pass away sometimes very young and you ask yourself why, it’s so unfair, i mean, if god exists why would he take them at suck a young age, right, the reason is because he doesn’t exist, now, i don’t know if you agree but there’s certainly lots of people who are atheists and they have a good reason to be doubters full blast, life is short, i hope my words will be tremedously comforting and therapeutic and helpful, you know, that poem the road not taken, well, there will be bumps and obstacles and problems and sometimes contentment but you got to explore the world and do many things because you’ve got to use your time effectively and wonderfully because at the end of the day it’s not the years in your life that matter but it’s the life in your years, now, think about it, living in the now is very good and down to earth, i like it, life is life, man, nobody can tell you anything better, i read everything you wrote and every word is inspirational, it’s actually depressing, to be honest with you, you made me cry as well, your a good man, live life to the fulllest and be a winner, you got to believe in yourself and do it, because words won’t make a difference and finally i just want to say in conclusion, i think that you actually changed my way of thinking about life because i’m a teenager and i really know how it feels like to lose a friend or family member of a young age because it never happened to me and i’m grateful and joyful for that but somehow i know exactly what if it must feel like, it’s terrible and heart-wrenching, it’s indescribable, it makes everyone glum when someone who love or care about suddenly dies, farewell and may time serve you

Thanks a lot for this wonderful post. Every word means a lot to me.

thanks……………i wanted to hear this – but i read it.

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Thank you… this was just what I needed. Giving credit where credit is due.

hey this is really amazing

i am here with tears in my eyes david.. bless u.. thank u for this post.. i needed it..

i am here with tears in my eyes david.. bless u.. thank u for this post.. i needed it

Thank you for this! How short life truly is something that I think of often. I am 26, and have had 2 “trips of a lifetime” so far, and I’m hoping for many more to come. The reason I am writing this now, is today, my grandmother passed away at 80 years old, and as I’m thinking of how wonderful a person she was and the love she gave to her family, and I can’t help think about how quickly my 26 years have gone by, and if I am lucky enough to make it to 80 years, how quickly that day will come. I’m just trying to enjoy every moment I have while I can.

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Thanks for this post!! I will not have more “reasons” or “excuses and I will live my dream and travel to Cuba this year!!! 🙂

My friend you are right. Life is short. We should enjoy it as much as possible before the flame on the candle vanish. Thank you for sharing a beautiful piece!

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Thank you very much from Spain

Beautiful and Refreshing. Thank you. Hugs to you!

That’s a really touching post. Recently I lost both my parents and I can resonate with some of the feelings posted here. There times when I wish time stopped and I can spend an eternity in that moment. But as the saying goes “Time and tide waits for no one”…one needs to live in the moment and savor it.

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David, Looks like you’ve really started something here. Many people talk like this, but its encouraging to see you actually doing it! I look forward to hearing more about it on the savannah in january. — ryan

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I come to post my colors here among you who call this site one of their homes. I am a survivor. 7.5 years ago my world underwent a dramatic shift when I was diagnosed with cancer … stage 3 … with 2 young children. It was an incredible walk and I learned sooo much! God was merciful, faithful, my redeemer and healer. He was tangible … and it was something life changing for many people.

Today I am delving into my passion and branching out into the professional world of photography. I feel like a caterpillar getting ready to emerge from my chrysalis! For too long, I lived my post cancer life looking in the rearview mirror so to speak …watching and waiting for cancer to rear its head. But … no more! Today I walk forward … a light … an example … a survivor … a child of God.

Today I vow to embrace and accept myself .. to take chances … to simplify and let go of things that bind me to the mundane … to live more and worry less … to embrace each and every day as an adventure … a moment to be be cherished, celebrated, and lived.

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Ah, thank you, THANK YOU for the reminder of this sweet life. Peace and great joy as you make your way…..

Inspiring David, thanks for reminding me what is important in this life.

Thank you for this post. A friend sent it to me. I’m glad she did. My husband and I are going to live our dream out over the next year of learning to live lighter on the earth…getting rid of old habits, creating new ones, in a bold experiment we’ve never tried before. Thank you for encouraging us!

What a beautiful and poignant post! Thank you for sharing. I’m sorry that you and your loved ones are suffering, and wish everyone as much peace and happiness as possible. As someone who left home behind to travel and experience new things, your message is also near and dear to my heart. I’m going to share it with my readers, and I wish you the best on your upcoming adventures.

David, Thanks for your timely post. I have taken time away from your blog (and a few others I would read daily) to work on my photography without trying to imitate things that I had seen. In retirement life has been good, but I do waste quite a bit of time. Your words come as a reminder to me to keep working diligently on both my inner and outer journey. Grace and peace, Eric

Thank you so much for this post. When something is this honest and inspiring, it’s very hard to come away from it without being moved.

I can only concur with the above.. I do hope, like everyone else that you and your friends find peace in this very difficult time.

Very well said David. I think we all need a reminder from time to time. I’ll definitely mark this for a re-read too. My prayers go out to your friends that they might find strength in this most difficult time.

David, praying for your friends , these are trying times and time … you are right…”now” is of essense. So every day i talk to my mum for an hour. no point crying over her grave once she goes, i can only pray she lives long enough to pass on the high moral values she tried imparting me to my kids… but i know as Hinduism coins the term “shan-bhangur” or worthy of annhilation in seconds, we are such creatures…so every day after my first cuppa , i call my mum, talk shop, soak in her surroundings though the phone and celeberate her. i am married, have a hubby, love him too…but i know my longer than i know him..and i am coz she is….

A touching post, David. Thought provoking for both right and left brains… I’m deeply touched by the response of the Community – I’m connecting with a real sense of humanity and an outpouring of love here. Thanks for posting!

My heart is with your friends. I am trying to grasp something of that instinct—that is, the instinct to be together, to comfort another with words, with silence, with gestures…it’s a real thing, and it’s beautiful. You’ve demonstrated the reality of this in this post. Your post truly moved me and I will carry this message with me throughout the day…and I will silently hold vigil with your friend and his wife as they move through this difficult time.

You also said:

“And one day soon – because it’ll seem that way, I know it – my candle will burn out; I want it to burn hot and bright while it’s still lit. I want it to light fires and set others ablaze.”

And all I can say to that is…Amen.

In the closing pages of Walden, Thoreau leaves us with this eloquent challenge and vision:

The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face?

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. . . .

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains.

“Life is short, don’t waste time worrying about what people think of you Hold on to the ones that care, in the end they will be the only ones there.”

excelente post, para no sólo leerlo si no también para reflexionarlo, vivirlo y releerlo. la mayoría de las veces creemos que las situaciones de enfermedad o tragedias son exclusivas de “los otros”. La oración siempre será curativa.

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My father recently passed away from cancer, and he also had a brain tumor. I certainly regret missing opportunities to have done more together. You only realize how short life is when you see the end.

After my father’s death, I made a slideshow to remember. I quickly realized that the slides I was looking for photographs to remember HIM. Postcard pictures, beautiful landscapes, interesting scenes didn’t make the cut; but pictures that captured an emotion, a moment in time, no matter what the quality, are the ones I saved to remember him.

oh, I think you are making people think about the most important things in life, you encourage them to take ” a risk” of being themselves, to make their dreams come true. I am convinced your experience of life- before making from photography your life-way-is precious. But to share it with people all over the world, to devote your time to others is really something! your text is sooooo moving and the words: “Whatever your dream is, find a way to make it happen” will hopefully help many people to make their lives happy and full of freedom 🙂 Thank you for this 🙂

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I am a fan of Ur. Workshops and Photography. We here pray for Ur friend and his wife. Being a follower of Nichiren Daishonin”s Buddhism, I pray. Nam Myoho Renge kyo!! for World Peace and Happiness!!

fabulous reminder to us all. Thanks for sharing.

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  A New Message From VERONICA   Walking A New Path        “Many times we have encountered those in the linear who are tired of walking down familiar paths.  They are often ones where the outcome is predictable and the energy ever devolving into greater negativity.        Physical life is full of opportunity to change direction.  One has to be full of courage to do so.  A belief system in your ability to choose is also needed.        Whatever has occurred you do have the ability to change it.  All of the drama surrounding the change may appear to be difficult but only if you enable it to do so. The confusion arises when allowing inappropriate drama to continue.  It begins to feel very commonplace.  Those in that energy space usually feel unable to change their course.        Spirit will assist you in your quest to walk a new path.  Feeling like a victim of circumstance only enables the negativity to stay.        Choose to change direction.        At first it may feel awkward or lonely.  However, put one foot in front of the other as you walk the new path.        Your soul will accompany you on the journey.        A new path is a new life which brings the probability of happiness and connection.        Take the first step.”                                       –VERONICA

My Mom sent me this message the other day from a medium she follows online & I thought it helpful to me since I want to make a change in my life & so I wanted to share it with others looking to make changes. I am going on the Antarctica 2011 trip and look forward to meeting you David.

My first visit here… I’ve read this several times and it’s beautiful. Really. I’ve posted it on fb and read it to friends who’ve visited my house. The lump in my throat comes every time I read it. Why is it so easy to go through the motions? I hate it. This encourages me more and more. Thank you friend for sharing your heart. You are a light. Xoxo

Thanks for sharing your thoughts…inspiring message that we all hear every so often and don’t remember often enough! My brother is in the fight of his life, along with his wife and two young daughters…lymphoma…so this strikes close to home. Yesterday may be a fond memory, but it is past…we might dream about tomorrow, but it may never come…make today a great day!

Dear David, Thank you for sharing your thoughts with the world and motivating us into action. This post is like pouring water to a dormant seed. The seed of our dreams, hopes and passions that many of us bury away as life gets in the way.

Like all of the others above I agree one hundred percent with what you say. The past is but a memory, the future is just an illusion. The one real thing is the present. We spend far too much time dwelling on the past or dreaming of a future, forgetting to live life at present.

David my thoughts are with your friend and his wife.

A truly inspirational post that hit me right in the gut. Thank you, David!

Hmmm. I read this post sitting in the kitchen of my mother in laws house – who, a mere four weeks ago was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Three weeks ago she had surgery to debulk it, two weeks ago we had the diagnosis that its malignant, and the most aggressive tumour that the surgeon has ever seen in his 15 year career, and that she’s got anywhere between two days and three weeks to live. We’ve bought her home here so she can see out her last few days surrounded by friends and family on her families farm. Each day we wonder if today is the day.

Live is short. And sometimes – you have no idea until its too late exactly how short it is.

I somehow feel that my reply to your post David a mere two months ago to your introspective post from Kathmandu about purpose was a portent of things to come…

Well said and well written.

So well written with such a wonderful message! Well done.

Wow. My thoughts and good wishes are with your friend and his wife. We all need to be reminded every now and then … that time is really the only thing we have. We can’t take anything with us except the love we share with family and friends and the memories and experiences we have with them. Thank you for posting this.

These words are exactly what I needed to lift me back up in my life. Thank you so much!

this….said it all. you covered every thought. thankyou for sharing.

My husband emailed me this link today and in his email he said “take the time and read it”. We are always talking about how busy we are and have no time for ourselves because we put work first. We do not have children which would seem like we would have even more time to do for ourselves but we don’t. I want to thank you for writing this and helping others to see – including myself, how important living your life to the fullest really is. You and your friends are in my thoughts and prayers. warm regards, Critsey

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Excuse me for hijacking the thread a little bit, but: @Martin Joergensen: Are you the same guy who did those wonderful “on location” from Denmark at Nikonians ?

I am so glad to hear someone else who thinks like me. I was refered to you by facebook, and I am adding you to my favorites. LIVE life! I preach this everyday! Thank you for so eloquently putting the english language to use on this subject!

Cheers to a likable soul.

My husband Stuart said I really needed to read your post. He was right. You had me at..”But I’m bursting to say these things, and I’m hoping someone out there needs to hear. I do”

Being an Oncology nurse, your words went straight to my heart. Dying is a real eye opener to life. Sharing your experience with others will most certainly help many people understand how fragile and short life really is. It really made me think about it.

I have always imagined that “wishing for the weekend to hurry up and get here” Is just wishing your life away. You so passionately put this thought into words.

Taking the time and giving emotional support to your friends who are grieving is the single most unselfish thing you can do. it is so appreciated and will never be forgotten… But the best thing is it is free!

Your post is so powerful that the job market may have many openings as people will be quitting to chase their dreams!! Lol.

Thank-you David for putting yourself out there to write about such an emotional and important topic. I pray for peace and comfort to your friends but also to you during this chapter in your life.

This being the 207th or so comment it might not have a big impact or add much new to your observations and those in all the above comments, but anyhow: I was certainly touched by your post — on a very direct and personal level, actually. I have been a very active outdoors person (biologist, photographer, journalist and avid fly fisher) for many years, and have always been scooting around like a fly in a bottle, and never thought the least of it.

But a few years back I suddenly lost feeling in my lower legs and feet, and over a period of a few months it became bad enough for me to be hospitalized. I was diagnosed with MS and since then my life changed drastically. I have lost almost all feeling and control of my legs. I can walk with a cane and still get around, but it’s a far cry from my previous trekking, fishing, shooting life!

I am 51 now and luckily I have been around a lot. Traveled the world and experienced amazing things, been very active writing, publishing, podcasting and whatnot.

Even though I’m still as active as I can be, I have a very clear limit now, and I have climbed my last rock, defeated my last mountain, walked my last 10 mile walk and many other things. I still travel, fish, shoot and try to be out as much as I can, but there is a very physical limit.

The morale? Well, simply put: just do it!

If you have plans for your life, do NOT postpone them until you have: time, money, energy or whatever other excuses you can muster. You never know what tomorrow or next year brings.

JUST DO IT!

I work as a general surgeon. Many years ago I had a patient come to me with metastatic melanoma. I sat down with him and his wife and explained the diagnosis. It was a death sentence and there was no way to candy coat that. If you could shoot the messenger, I can assure you the wife would have done so. I dove home with a heavy heart that day. The wife’s words about all the things they had planned to do, kept repeating in my mind. After a while, I wondered why they didn’t do some of them aready. When I walked into the house, the first thing I said to my wife was, “let’s go to Australia.” We both wanted to do it as a “someday” even. Now I realized that “someday” may never come. All we have is today. We have to make of it the most we can. Well, we went to Australia. It is the highpoint of our lives together and we speak of it often and fondly. We have traveled to many other destinations and are working our way thur a list of things we want to do. We will never be able to do them all, but when I stand in front of St. Peter on my appionted day, I want to be able to say, “I did all I could and I don’t have any regret .” I have found in life, I more often regret the things I did not do, than the things I did. If it is important to you, do it today. Don’t put off a phone call to an old friend, a trip, taking up a new hobby, or telling someone you love them. You may regret the time you did not take the oportunity more then you may know.

Love to you and to your friends. Thanks for writing this.

Thank you David, a timely reminder on the transience of life. You and your friends will be in my thoughts and prayers.

David, thank you for this post. I’m so glad I found it right now, just after returning from an inspiring, long-overdue vacation and wondering how to avoid going back on autopilot. I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s important? And what’s the point? To me, the point is to live an interesting, creative life filled with love. I want to be continually inspired and I’d be thrilled if my work had that effect on others. Thank you for your encouraging words.

I know how you feel, David. In august, my wife received the diagnose: breast cancer … She is quite young, 31 years old, we have four kids, so naturally this was a hard one …. on top of that, the tumor i very large, so she’ll need to have 8 (eight) Kemo treatments, before the operation. On wednesday next week, it will be no 5 … We have good days, and bad days. I’ve not been photographing so much the last couple of month’s , the daily routines takes up most of my time .. But we have high hopes for the future, it seems that the cancer has not spread to other parts of her body, yet !! We hope

This box isn’t enough to say everything I want to say but here’s a snippet. Three little words – Life’s too short. What you say resonates so true with me. I am a cirrhosis sufferer in holding pattern – not getting worse & not getting better. I was at a presentation at our support group recently and there were some personal story speakers there. I looked around the room and I see all these sufferers. I realise that over half of them may be dead within a few years yet there was not one person there who was negative. The sheer enjoyment that everyone there has for life was palpable. All they wanted was an extension a transplant would give but they weren’t going to die quietly. Each of them were following Dylan Thomas’ great words – “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

I love you, David (platonically, of course!). Your work, your blog and your spiritual ‘compass’ continues to inspire me and others. I stop here every morning for my mug o’ Dave.

Thanks for keeping it real. Safe travels, and thanks for the reminder to live boldly.

Thank you David – what a wonderful Blog! I wish you much happiness in your newest Adventure. Life surely is an adventure and you are fortunate that you have been able to come to the realization before age creeps up on you. Go for it and have a wonderful life. God Bless you and your friends.

Isn’t it interesting that you were “bursting to say these things, and I’m hoping someone out there needs to hear” and someone was? This came to me via a link from Facebook. It was a very good read and it reinforces my desire to see and do everything there is to see and do before I move on.I am sorry for those that have lost someone in your story but grateful for the lesson their experience offers.

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Hello – I am sure with all your replies you won’t have time to read them all, but that’s ok. I wanted to say thank you for such a wonderful post – I just buried my best friend yesterday. She was 45, and fought a very tough and long battle with ALS and dementia – she leaves a wonderful husband and two young children. And me. A best friend – she was the most fun and ALIVE person you could want to know- with a loud booming southern accent and a fantastic laugh. She was my college roommate, we both grew up in Orlando and decided to hit the big city after college and we drove to boston packed to the gills in my little corolla. It was the adventure of a lifetime for us as we made many stops along the way and had lots of laughs. We both settled in the area, married and had kids. We stayed close. 3 years ago came the awful diagnoses. I wished I could fix it, I wished it away – I prayed like never before. But it was not to be – it was her time. After about 5 years of marriage for both of us – we tossed around the idea of going to Vegas to celebrate – what fun that would have been. But we opted to wait until the kids got older. Now we will never get to go. So yeah – go grab life by the horns. Now.

I am also about to move my mother up here to live with me – she was diagnosed this summer with Alzheimers and had a stroke in August – I am looking forward to spending time with her. See, my mom and I never got along and I am taking this opportunity to care for her and make her last years comfortable. I will still grab life by the horns, I will still make time for my family. But I will also cherish the time left with my mother.

Thank you again for such a great post – and I will leave you with the words my father said before he passed away 4 years ago at the age of 91. “I have no regrets, I lived a wonderful life, I did what I wanted to do and I did it surrounded by those I loved”

That is how I want to live.

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I started crying while reading this. So powerful and so true. Life is too short and I think we need to be reminded of how precious it is every single day. Thank you!

I SO needed to read this!!! Thanks for putting it so perfectly!

Its been said so many times already in these comments but I have to say thank you … For this post, for the work you do, for what you inspire in me. As I think of & pray for your friends and all who’ve talked about lost loved ones, I can only think of Psalm 91. That is my prayer for all of us as we go out & seek our own amazing life.

Wow- wonderful post. Certainly another must-read blog to add to my list!

@larryphoto

I have only just found your blog and am glad I did. What you say is too true, most of us procrastinate in one way or another. I am as guilty as anyone else, yet guilt is an unhealthy bedfellow. Whenever I hear the words I would but … danger bells ring in my ears. It is inevitably followed byI must do this or that first …

There is only one must in life, we must all sooner or later die, nothing else, all else is our own choice. Last winter I was twice heading through those pearly gates and was twice miraculously sent bak although I was quite ready to go. Since then I have experience the desert in bloom as it so seldom happens (less often than once every 20 years) and picked up my paintbrushes again that have lain idle for 28 years. Life presents us with wonders every day, we just need to learn to see them.

PS I have swallows nesting in the shed that will be my studio so work on it has been suspended until they fledge. Meanwhile I paint outside.

David, your post is truly inspiring and is made even more profound by the endless number of comments from people who have been moved by it. How many people here said they know someone who’s life ended too soon? Or who admit they have not followed their dreams? I am one of those people too, but trying to make a change. And it is scary. But I think you’re right, what is more scary is not making the change. Thank you Anne.

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Thank you for sharing that,all the best to your friend!

I have admired you as a photographer…Now I admire you completely. My family is dealing with a terminal brain cancer sufferer and the strife associated with making unpleasant decisions. Thank you for this post – it will remain with me whenever there is a need to put things in perspective.

Regards from the southern edge of Africa.

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My heart is with your friends. I lost my husband, soul mate and best friend 2 years ago to a year long battle with cancer. It was the most heart wrenching thing to witness and it was the most important thing I will probably ever do. I stayed home with him for most of the year. I took care of him and it was the hardest thing I will ever do. I got the time you speak of, with him. We don’t realize until it’s too late what we have missed in life. We had thoughts of retirement, travel and photography but we really never got the chance or should I say we didn’t take it while we had it. I too heard the quality of life speach with my husband. I hope your friends can enjoy what time they have left together. I cherished those days. They weren’t easy, they weren’t fun but they were what we got and we made the best of it.

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May the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with your friends during this time.

I myself have been responding to some rather large life-changers in my own life. Three years ago I had a decent paying job, a house and a collection of mounting medical debt that was proving resistant to getting paid off. Then the economy did what it did in the U.S. Today, I have a lower-paying (but more satisfying) job working with teen addicts, a rented apartment in a crummy part of town and a bankruptcy packet that is being filed this week. But I also have a camera and a dream. Now my thoughts are centered around moving that ‘dream’ from intangible point of hope to a very real bringer of joy and (hopefully) income. Progress is slow (because, well, life is still life – and life loves it’s roadblocks!) but the outlook is grand.

David, your teachings and the sharing of your life experiences have become a cherished source of motivation and knowledge with which to forge my new existence in this world. Knowing that you, too, have been through bankruptcy, and have come out smarter, stronger, faster is a real encouragement to me. I believe the Lord works all things for the glory of His will, and your presence in my life, right when I need it, confirms this. Thanks so much for being a Kicker of Darkness and Lover of Light, my friend.

David, just sent you some important links by email to your personal address – please send them to your friends, it might help!

And for you . .

THAT blog post is why you have so many fans my friend! You shoot and speak with your heart and are 100% authentic and it comes through in your images and your words. Keep being who you are.

I moved to the otherside of the world to live my dream life – every day I count my blessings. Friends and family may be far away and I miss them all terribly but I had to live my life, my way. It’s the only one I’ve got. I came to realise this in a similar way you have – it was through my grief of losing people I cared about that made me want to step up and grab life. It was my way to honour how knowing them made me a better person.

I hope medicine, love and the force of life bring the best to your friend and his wife.

Wow! The best blog ever. This reminds me of a saying I read earlier this week that also really struck home hard. “Death is the dark side of the mirror that reflects life.” And I realized that without being aware of potential losses, we would not value life so highly and our drive to live to the fullest would be meaningless.

Thank you for writing this. I really needed to hear this today. I hope that your friend can prove the doctors wrong and recover. The story about the woman who contacted you is truly heartbreaking and really brings home the point that there might not be a tomorrow.

What you said in this post, deep down, we all know it, but we often choose to put things off for tomorrow, next month, next year. As someone who is blessed to have survived the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti earlier this year, this post really hits home. The thousands who perished also thought they had tomorrow. But, you just never know.

Amazing – thanks for reminding us how precious life is. I try not to take it for granted given my own personal experience. It’s good to remind us all to live life and appreciate every moment we have on this earth and with our loved ones. Thanks again for this incredible posting. Hope you’re doing well and take care.

Caroline Seattle, WA

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I’ve just been introduced to your site and concur with everything you said in this post. In the past year I’ve known three people who planned for a future which would never be his/hers. We need to appreciate every moment and I can honestly say that I am. I look forward to seeing/reading more from you. Many thanks for your candor. http://open-window.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/stop-and-smell-the-roses.html

Thank you for writing exactly what I needed to read. I will keep your friend and his wife in my prayers. And I will pass this post on to others.

Whenever as a child or a teenager I would lament about wanting to do something, saying I wish I could do this or that. My father would recite a bit of a proverb or nursery rhyme he learnt as a child. It was lost on me until I became an adult.

“If wishes were horses Beggars would ride: If turnips were watches I would wear one by my side. And if ifs and ans were pots and pans, The tinker would never work”

In short wishing gets us nowhere, taking action no matter how small it maybe generates other actions that move us closer to living our dream. The trick is to maintain the momentum.

Sometimes it is hard to keep thinking this way. Like you say, life is hard and sometimes holding on can take up most of your strength. It’s sad to think that it takes a major incident, such as your friend, to start this life altering process. I had a stroke at the age of 25. It was minor, and ironically, I counted myself lucky that I came away from it mostly unscathed. The biggest scar is the emotional one. It becomes almost easy to ‘live to the fullest’ when something like this happens to you, you feel the brush of immortality – and then sadly it fades. It’s now 2 years and 5 very minor strokes later, and every day I live with fear that next time, I may not be so lucky. It’s this fear that reminds me that I am alive – turn the negative into a positive. Beautiful writing David… And my thoughts are with you and your friends. X

David, I have been your fan for the longest time. Thanks for writing this post. It really resonates with my current thought process and I thank you for this inspiring post. All the best to your friend. She will be in our thoughts! Manyu

Thank you, David. I am going to send others I know to read this post.

More amazing layers, David. This is why I follow your blog and read your books. What you say is true, honest, real. Thanks for the reminder. Just had a meeting with my womens’ group on the island about this very thing. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!

Hello David, This is the first I’ve read of your blog, what a lovely way to start my day. All the best to your friend who is ill will say my prayers. Have a great great day.

Prayers for your friend and one Duchemin spoke to another Duchemin this am (and many others). Thank you

thank you David

David, I was just going to pass this by on a post on facebook, instead I clicked on it and read your amazing and profound words. It is true, I always say life is short and live it without regrets…however I never act on the dreams I have….instead of I should of, I wish I had…I am going to lite the fire of my desires and do the things I want to do now. I pray for your friends for strength and comfort…and a miracle to heal. There is only one who knows the day and hour and minute of our departing this earth…to him I give all glory…I am sending blessings and love out to you and your friends.

Sorry David, Nicole retweeted and i got the names mixed up before I hit submit…

Speechless Nicole, very true and thank you for igniting that spark. My thoughts are with you and your friend.

Thank you David. For years now I have been saying next time, next year, tomorrow. Your post reminds me that now is the time, year and today may be all I get.

My prayers go out to you and your friends.

WOW True words

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how easy it is to forget that life is short until something big and ugly leaps out and growls menacingly at us (at least that’s how it is for me).

sorry to hear about your friends, that totally sucks. of course prayers will be said for them. thanks for sharing their story and asking for help on their behalf.

not sure where you are going in nz, hopefully you will keep us posted and let us know if there will be any chances to meet you in person (that’s on my life list for sure).

Awe Inspiring Post:) Now to figure out my dream job and stop wasting time in Retail. God I hate it.

Hi David Great piece of what is important, you just made me had a look at my own life all over again:)

thanx for sharing

David, you have positively changed the lives of many of your readers today, and through us our friends and family.

Thank you for sharing.

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Amen, Brother. Well put.

David, I’m not into God really. At least not in the sence we ussualy perceive it.

I’m sending my mojo, good wishes, all my energy to your friends. And big thansk for being such a great teacher!

Thanks David! You did it again, you hit a nerve… There’s only one thing that I’d add from my perspective and is that “living our dreams” is even better when is about “living/giving” for others. That’s when you really enjoy life… I think we have been designed to do that, but because so many things we like to take other roads…

In the humanitarian field I’ve witnessed that many times… it’s better to give than to receive. That’s the real dream!

Good thoughts David, thank you. Not so far from my context these days on a couple of life’s fronts.

Sometimes the so-called path of least resistance can really be the path of greater friction. Fear and risk-aversion and inertia are three tricky devils that don’t tell the truth.

And our mortality – yes it can be a sobering messenger. I pray you will be a timely and incarnate friend – one of those things that matters far more (and lasts longer) than pictures.

David… the heart expressed in your words, exactly as vision is expressed in your photographic journey… never fails to inspire. Thank you for sharing… prayers sent.

*look at me* lost my job, instead of falling on my ass, I’m turning it into a dive into deep water – gonna swim as hard as I can and see where I ned up. The first month has been kind to me… not that this is all about me.

Just sayin’ I agree, and sometimes we need a helpful push.

Thanks for the reality check – we are always comforted by “someday I will” or “maybe”. It takes extraordinary courage to face our the quality of our life when we acknowledge our remaining days – may your friend face hers knowing how deeply her life touched yours and ours…

i read your message with a heavy heart. i have a friend who is days or weeks away from the end of her life with stage four cancer. she is one of those wonderful people who is just a beam of light. i always thought that i had all the time in the world to be closer to her as we’ve always seen each other as kindred spirits. there’s no more time now and i go to hold her hand now with such wrenching sadness. she is only 35 years old. i just cannot stop thinking of her and all that she accomplished and loved….she has lived her life so voraciously and with so much love.

I’m so sorry to hear your news. There are no words in a situation like that.

Yesterday I found out that someone that I knew through work died suddenly. He had an acute brain hemorrhage. He was 41.

Last February I lost my Father-In-Law to Lung Cancer after a brief 5 month battle. I thought I’d have him around a long time and loved him like a father. He was 61.

I always read your blog although I don’t comment often. I had to comment on this one.

This is the most important post that you will ever write and hopefully one that people will take to heart.

There is nothing more important than enjoying the time that you do have, making the most of every day, spending quality time with loved ones, realizing that possessions mean nothing in the end and the importance of making your dreams come true.

Thank you for writing this. You mentioned how often you hear people say “I wish I could do that” and wondering how many people make the steps to realize their dream…..my dream has always been to go to Africa. I’ve been on life-support because of an illness twice in the last 5 years. My parents and husband were prepared by the doctor’s that I wasn’t going to make it.

I need a new car. I want new furniture. I need, I want, I want….but those things can wait. Instead of those things I have booked my trip to Africa for 2011. (and while I’m looking forward to it more than I have with anything in my life before….I’m not wishing away the time inbetween.)

Well stated David. May we all just be moved even a little by your message and the world would be better for it.

Just yesterday I received a birthday card from my Mother. As a child I always admired her handwriting. She used a big, open, cursive script that reflected her warm and generous personality. Her handwriting still bears some of that, but it now less assured, less steady and in so many ways more fragile.

David, thank you for this post. You’ve given me fresh reason to cherish the time I have with my family. My thoughts go out to your friends mentioned above.

Thanks for sharing David.

Wish I had good advice like everyone else here – I just dont.

Again, thank you and our thoughts go out to everyone you mentioned in your post.

Thank you for this post. I will be quitting my miserable job in a few weeks. Whatever the future holds from that move it will be a step forward. I wish I had done this years ago but in doing it now I hope I am wasting less of my remaining time.

woops http://www.jillrosellphotography.com

Firstly I must thank twitter for connecting me to you this evening… and secondly your beautiful post on your blog. I am actually from NZ and live in Bend OR – my perfect place on the planet right now. I think spending time in NZ will be the perfect thing for you! The beauty will astound you and the people warm you. It is clear that you get what most people don’t , you are listening to your inner self and best of all you are doing something with it. I look forward to checking out your work and hearing about your trip. If you want some tips on where to go what to do please email me. Have an amazing journey down under.

Love your post today David & this has struck a chord with me. I lost my father this year also to brain cancer. It’s been a tough year.As I write this I look over at a poster by my desk that a monk made for me in Vietnam a few years back. “Living in the Present, How Beautiful this very moment is”. My thoughts & prayers to your friends.

Thank You. You are totally & completely right. 🙂

David, thank you for the wonderful & timely post. I’m praying for your friends and you, as you encourage us. At 71 I have been thinking about what I may and should accomplish with my remaining days. As you have pointed out so well, thinking & wishing are not enough. We have to act. A copy of your post will remain on the top of my desk as a constant reminder to do what is important. Bless you!

I don’t know who you are (linked here from a Dane Sanders post) but you seem to know just what I needed to hear today. Thank you for taking the time to write your inspiring post. Peace and prayers to you and your friends.

Perfect post for me to read. I just loved it, every word hit home.

Great post David! Today was “one of those days” so the words are well received.

Compared to someone facing a terminal illness, my problems seem trivial; however, they are all too common.

For the past 20 years I have worked at a job I despise? Why, oh why? Because in the process of discovering myself I also have taken on several committments that require stability, are long term and not conducive to quick changes in direction. As they say “too soon old, too late smart.”

If I could do it again knowing what I now know, here’s what I’d do differently: 1. Never take a job for the money. 2. Figure out what you are good at as quickly as possible. 3. Get things sorted in the following order, a) Career, b) Partner and c) Family 4. Rent, don’t own. Your things end up owning you, not the other way around. 5. A coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero dies but one. 6. Regret is the heaviest burden.

Great post David … I came a whisker away from being hit by a car this morning while walking across the street to get a coffee, and your post reminds us all how short it is. Thank you.

Peace – Justin

For years I had to fight with depression, now with a new person in my life she got me to see how I do love my photography. So now with meds and therapist and my photography ( one year now with my dslr camera) I can’t afford classes so I get tips from on line friends from facebook and my yes I like it or no not this one.. You see David depression is so bad for some of us that it hurts and no one understand unless they are going through it too. I lost my sons and now to be ex husband cause they didn’t understand how bad I was..

David, Thanks for posting this. It is more valuable than you know. My prayers go out to your friends. As a cancer survivor myself I can relate. I work hard, save and take the trips, make the shots, whatever. Get your money’s worth every day!! My wife and I are bringing our two boys to China and Tibet next summer on a teacher’s salary. It can be done. The main reason this is great timing is that I was feeling real bummed because my wife’s car died today. It is done. It will cut into the trip fund and I was frustrated. Thanks for the reminder that it is just a piece of metal. We are just fine! Much Peace and Respect David! PS, I still want to buy you a beer!

I couldn’t agree more. This is why I left my job earlier this year. Swaziland did it to me… seeing all those HIV orphans and widows made me really see how precious life is. And I didn’t want to give the best years of my life to my job.

I have no idea how things will turn out. It’s early days still. But there is no way to lose in this situation.

Praying for your friends… and all those others facing the fragility of life tonight.

Great post – lovely sentiment, well said!

BTW I’m based in NZ, in New Plymouth – hit me up via website if I can help with anything on your trip.

Cheers Grant

David, If God was ever trying to get to someones heart… Wow. I have just finished a heartfelt prayer for your friends, and yourself. Thanks for being a man willing to put himself out there. Thanks for following your heart, Laurie

Thank you for this entry. You are so right. I need to remember this everyday and worry less about the future. Live in the now. I will pray for your friend and his wife that they find healing and understanding in this difficult time.

David you are so right! My dad also have leukemia and I see how sad is he because he doesn’t have any more time to do all the things he wanted to do… Life is really short… it’s sad that we all just wish and don’t do anything… yes.. this is one of your best post ever… it really gives us something to think about …

Very inspiring post, David. Challenging in every way. I’ve posted a link on my Facebook wall, and sent prayers up for your friend.

Hi David, This is my first time posting here. I couldn’t be reading this at a more appropriate time in my life. I’ve been feeling something very similar for quite a while now. I finally stopped making excuses and took a month long trip recently. It was difficult to leave for such a long period of time, but like you said, work can wait. I came back with a renewed perspective and passion on life.

Thank you for sharing your heartfelt words. My thoughts are with you and your friends.

Thanks David for such a heartfelt post. My heart goes out to your friends.

I’ve spent the past year battling cancer and there is nothing like it to give you a HUGE wake-up call. I used to tell my husband that it wasn’t IF you get cancer, it was a matter of when but it still shocked me to get the news.

I now push my friends to follow their dreams now, take those vacations because I tell them to look at me and realize things can change in an instant and your whole life gets turned upside down.

Good thoughts for you all, take care.

I said it to you once to you in person and I will say it again on here. Thank you for continuing to live your dream as well as writing about it. Even with a positive and a tenacious attitude, I find we are all subject to the same live forever mindset from time to time. It does not have to take a near death experience to realize that we should open up our eyes as wide as they can be opened, face our challenges and create a life as fun and vibrant as we are all capable of.

I am thankful for this post like many others and I appreciate you being willing to share some of your passion with whomever is listening.

Lots of love to your friends

Amazing post… even more profound when read after returning from a funeral home.

Way to go, bro.

Great post…my thoughts & prayers are with my friends & your friends that are going through such terrible times ?

Inspiring post as always.

Is it wrong to point out that everything you wrote is, for all it’s brilliance, common sense?

We ALL know that time is limited so why does human nature make it so that the majority of people choose to ignore the fact?

We owe it to ourselves, and to humanity, to live our lives to the full.

David, Thank you. Praying for your friends.

There is alot of truth and wisdom in your words. Our time on this earth is limited and I am guilty of telling myself that there is time and I will get to it soon. Even after an illness that almost ended my life a few years ago I still have not changed. Your words I will keep where I can refer back to them occasionally and maybe they will sink. Prayers to your freinds and God be with you in your travels.

Thanks for sharing from your heart and rattling me awake! You are right, life is short. I’ll be adding your friends to my prayers.

Thanks for your reminders of the brevity of life and to do while it is still called today for we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

While I can’t possibly know what exactly your friends are going through or how they feel, my family lost my sister in law to a brain tumor 7 years ago (she was 28, leaving behind my brother and their 3 year old daughter) so they will definitely be in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you again for your always thought provoking, honest and edifying blog posts.

Wow, what a heartfelt and beautifully written piece. I’ll confess I had tears in my eyes about two paragraphs in.

All so true – thank you for this invaluable lesson in life!!!

Thank you for taking the time to say all of these things. For you and your friends, may you find the strength when it’s needed, and then wonderful and happy memories to get you through a horrible time. If you are ever in Santa Barbara, please let us know so we can meet you.

Wow – like others, I really needed this. Even if we can’t quit our day jobs, we can re-prioritize so that we spend our time on what counts in every moment.

I’m so sorry about your friends, and am sending them good thoughts.

Excellent post and very well stated. Sone people develop their whole lives based on how they will make money, other than how they will make their own time. I personally coin this action as “hustling backwards” meaning trying to obtain the material aspects prior to establishing the mental needs. Once the hustle has started, regardless of which direction the reversal is a challenge. This ideal needs to be taught in school . Thanks David

THANK YOU David, this was one of the most important posts I have ever read. My thoughts are with your friends and with you as you embark in a new adventure. I know that you will live everyday of your journey to the fullest, as every one of us should.

God bless and prayers will be said.

I learned to hate the word Cancer 3 years ago when I learned I had lymphoma. News like that changes everything for you, your family, and your friends. Everything you and your followers wrote is true – we each cope in our own way. My prayers go out to your friends at this difficult time. I hope they and you find peace. Thank you for your post.

You are one heck of a writer and one heck of a person. Wise words here. (Guy Tal mentioned this post, so I came here to read what you had to say.)

Sorry to hear about your friend(s). We all tend to forget we have a one way ticket to this miraculous planet and thus, what’s really important in life.

We feel so helpless when someone we love is beyond our help, but the one thing we can do is “be there.”

To love and be loved is no small thing, no matter how much time we have, so love them well and take good care of yourself as well.

Thanks for being open enough to share your feelings and life, along with your work.

Thank you for the reminder. I hope you find peace.

I am a firm believer that things always come to you when you need them, and your writing here is one of those such “things”. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart ….

So true David -thank you for sharing. It is so easy to lose sight of what’s important in life. Sending positive thoughts and white light to your dear friends.

Life is short and probably unfair too.. I had no clue (seriously) about how sucky or beautiful life is… one day I get a call from a friend saying his father expired.. he was extremely friendly and close to all of us.. it’s hard to accept the fact for me (think about him..) one thing for sure is NOTHING IS FOR GRANTED.. bomb blasts, burglaries, natural disasters, plane crashes – everyday news is filled with disturbing stuff.. I have started to think may be we take life too seriously.. the entire Universe is so huge (huge is also probably defined but not the Universe.. :)) and what are we in it? I sometimes feel like we are like those tiny little bacteria that can’t even be seen when you take the whole Universe or even this world for comparison… our only problem is – we are human.. we not only can experience pain but can display the emotion more than any other living being.. as you rightly said .. stay as long as you are destined to.. be good and do good.. have the least expectations from this world.. be a giver and a not a taker ..atleast not all the time (since we are only human..) we would never have known about a disease or have cure for it until someone in past had suffered from it.. so in the billion years that life existed on this earth there have been millions who have gone thru what you did.. I can’t believe the realization of life I experience after my friend’s father’s death.. well.. anyways.. there’s lot to say about this subject 🙂 take care all you guys.. my prayers are on for your friends too David..

This is how Arnt (my husband of 32 years) and I have lived our life….we look back on our life and would not have done anything different. We realized very early on that we had adventures in us and did not want to wait until we were “retired” so we really never had proper jobs…but we own our own home and studios now and have stuff! People always say “you are so lucky” or “how do you have this life” and we always say “we are not lucky, we plan it and just do it” …. some have listened and fulfilled their dreams and unfortunately some are still complaining…hopefully they will see the light! Too many of us are leaving this earth way too early…my heart goes out to you and your friends.

Great notions, but so hard to act … fear is the enemy. I realized this a couple of years ago, and try every day, to do something that scares me, hoping that someday I’ll have the courage to take the big steps.

Always great to hear similar advice from people I respect as much as you. Thanks

I’m so sorry for you and your friends. I truly know how it feels and that only you (I) can do something with our lives.

My mother died at 39, when I was 10; my husband died at 39 of leukemia; my dear brother died at 59 before he could fulfill a simple dream. I ain’t waitin around. I left work at 53, bought an RV, and traveled north america, baja, Alaska, etc. I had always wanted to see a desert bloom (I’m from NE), so I’ve spent several springs in the southwest. I always wanted to see the tree frogs of Costa Rica, and photographed them in 2008. I’ve always wanted to go to Africa, and will next April. People say “I wish I could do what you’re doing” and I tell them that if they want it bad enough they will.

I believe the first step on the way to doing/being what you want is to admit that only you can do it. If you have to do something you don’t prefer on your way to what you do, then find peace with that and continue toward your goal. Accept who/what you are NOW, and prepare for who/what you want to be THEN. And I wish you a long time to enjoy it!

Oh my ~ this couldn’t have come at a more meaningful time. Our community suffered a sad and tragic loss this last weekend. A teacher much loved who has been a mentor, a friend, a sweetheart. The entire community is devastated. The events have made me step back and reevaluate life and remind me what is most important. Thank you for writing it all so well, my thoughts are with your friends.

Thank you David for this reminder. I am spending time with my grandson. My daughter – his mom lives in France and they came for a visit (6 weeks). I took off work so that I could spend ALL the time with them. My boss said “You must be crazy!” when I told her. I said “No, I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with them before they had to go back.” Skype is great but the real thing is better!! I will keep your friends in my prayers.

Thank you David. I so needed your words. I wish I could quit my job right now to pursue my dreams, whatever they might be… sadly I can’t for what I think are good reasons. But I will make it happen.

Thank you David, not just for saying these things but for living them for it is the living examples of what is possible that show others that it truly is possible. I will certainly send some “metta” (loving kindness) to your friends and everyone else as well because if we’re not out there living then we are already dying. Take care, from a fellow explorer.

Inspiring! I just left my job today to pursue a career in photography and this is just the extra words I needed to hear. Thank you!

David, you are 200% right! I’ve seen people at work die shortly after retirement, or shortly before and even one young man and father in a motorcycle accident. They all had plans for their future … I’m absolutely with you on doing what I want as soon as I can. On the other side, we should be thankful for everything we have already gotten or done. A friend of mine once told me when I was complaining about things I wasn’t able to do: “don’t wish your life away”. He meant that I shouldn’t complain about what I didn’t have, but cherish what we have.

David, you’ve offered a wonderful tribute to your friend and his wife. May they make the most of the days they have left together and realize that love never ends. And your heartfelt thoughts on making each day count is a valuable wake up call for all of us. Bless your friends and bless you for caring and sharing this message.

David: Thank you. I will pray. Marshall

Live the life without tomorrow is a good thinking. When you sleep, imagine what if you won’t wakeup in the morning.

Beautifully said, and so very true.

My mother died from cancer about three years ago. She was still a child in her 60’s. She still had too many dreams to chase. I realized then what you have just said in your post. Life is too short and tomorrow could be too late. I decided to pull the steer and start chasing my own dreams from that moment… but I was so afraid…I felt fear from my head down to my toes… Then, about a year ago I knew about a photographer called David DuChemin, and started to follow him on his blog…In early 2010 I read “VisionMongers” and everything changed. I really started to walk towards my dreams. I still feel fear for having quit my ‘good’ job and become what I really wanted to be: a full-time photographer. Anyway, I think I’m beating the “Resistance”, and that’s because YOU helped me open my mind. You light the way somehow. Thanks so much David!

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“How beautiful is youth, that is always slipping away! Whoever wants to be happy, let him be so: about tomorrow there’s no knowing.”- LORENZO DE MEDICI (1449-1492)

David, I am very sorry to hear about your friend. I will be praying for her.

I really appreciate your post. It is as if you have been rifling around in my thoughts. For the past year I have been having this very discussion with my wife and several of my friends. Life is to brief to live it for stuff, ease and a pain free existence. Hard choices, pain and risk are where the beauty of life is truly experienced.

On a somewhat related note. I have been meaning to ask you. Does your wife travel with you? I know you travel quite a bit and I have always wondered how you balance being an world photographer and a husband. As a husband I have been thinking through this as I make plans for a career change. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

I think this is possibly your best post. Don’t get me wrong, I love your “normal” posts and your books but sometimes one just needs a good smack in the face.

Unfortunately, I think we all have stories too similar to yours. I have a close family friend that has lung cancer and has been given 3 months to live.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you friends and all those that have loved ones suffering.

Thanks David: I turned 79 this month and as I look back on my life I realize how many plans were set aside, how many dreams were unrealized. But on the whole it has really been great, I’ve done a lot, seen a lot, painted up a storm at times and shot 50,000 images with some great cameras. But mainly I have loved and been loved and in the end that is what really matters. Plus I still wake up every day and plug away at getting better, not just at photography. It doesn’t matter if never catch up with Ansel. It is the journey that counts. Enjoy New Zealand, I sure did. Dick K.

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Your echoing a lot of what I’ve been feeling lately. I’m still working a soul-sucking IT job, but I’m pushing hard to get the “emerging” part out of being an emerging photographer 🙂

Metta to you and your friends.

thanks david. life is short and we always can’t replay the time we use to be with people even we have some excuses.

WELL SAID!!!!!

This particular entry of yours has hit so close to home for me, personally. I’ve recently lost an immediate parent to cancer a few weeks ago. HIs death has brought some good: the awareness of how short life is and how all the rest of the trivial things we tend to cling onto, things that impede us from moving on, has no meaning anymore. What matters now is moving on and realizing myself and how I want to value more of my life.

Having to see this post on my RSS feed just reinforces what I want to express to others as well. Thank you for this.

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thanks once again David. Resonates very strongly with us – we’re making and have made steps in the right direction. with you all the way. peter berg

Greetings David . . . I found your “sermon” to be a profound reiteration of how I see life. I’m so sorry to hear about your friends. Death is the one equalizer that brings us all to your knees. I will keep them in my prayers as requested. I learned of this through Michael Frye’s post on FB. We live in a world connected by an incredible web. Thanks again for the reminder that life is short and living it passionately is so important! God’s peace be with you and your friends. Todd

Thank you for sharing, David and for echoing what I believe many individuals (including myself) are feeling who have day jobs and who are considering switching vocations. Following and trusting myself and my passion is probably one of the most important (and most difficult) things that I’ve had to learn to do in my life. Along the same vein as what you say in your blog, and not to hijack the thread, but for those where David’s message really resonates with you, you may want to do a Youtube look up for Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford University commencement speech. That was really the turning point in my life where I decided to follow my dreams despite the difficulty that would be involved.

David, bless you. We found you because of your photography. We stayed because of your humanity. You have a credit of one, big, bear hug. Cheers, Wayne

David, you are so right. My wife and I are on a year long trip traveling throughout Australia because we recognize that life truly IS short and this is something we had to do before it is too late. So get to NZ, get in that camper or whatever and travel across Canada or the States or where ever with your family for a year and truly live, while you still can.

“Time is not money, it is an opportunity to live before we die.” Donald Culross Peatty

Would that we all come to that realization.

Well said, David! The marketing powers in our society scream at us that we will reach almost nirvana if we just buy that and that, and we strive harder and harder to achieve our (most often) financial goals. My aunt died of lung cancer 2 years ago; my motner-in-law died 14 days after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just 2 months ago, and my mother, luckily survived breast cancer some 7 years ago. This post is not about them, but it struck me, that even if I from their stories should have learnt that life is very fragile, I have still kept on, burning my own candle in at least 2 ends. Your post opened my eyes, really!

“All life is Holy, Life delights in Life”, William Blake

so we delight in you too David – thank you for saying this reality to passionately and eloquently. Yet, the most we can do is live our authentic selves with no recriminations, right. See my Haiku: Isness: In doing to be – yourself, one with the moment – a snowflake melting

cheers, and blessings, Brian

I hate it when someone makes me wake up. But then again I need to. Thanks for ringing the alarm bell.

Powerful. Beautiful. Glad I read this.

Thank you David for posting your open heart.

xxooxxoo to you and your friends.

Wow, that’s pretty powerful. Time to generate some momentum….

Quite simply… thanks for posting and all the best to your friends.

Thank you David!

This is so good to hear … I’m right in the middle of making some changes. Two and a half years ago I was diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma), had the works, surgery, chemo and radiation. Now I’m two year free and counting. I continue to struggle between giving up my safe career path of computing and really reaching for the stars with something that I consider more meaningful, maybe it’s photography, maybe it’s something else … but there comes a point when we have to let go of everything we think is real and safe and to cast off into the unknown and to trust in something bigger, if I don’t then I’m already dead.

Thank you David

Great words. In early 2009 I took a midnite stroll right off the edge of a 40′ cliff. A surgeon friend put it bluntly that I was lucky to even wake up, given I had a head injury.

To this day, I try to keep the reminder to not let the small stuff get to me, and to cherish each day as if it was the last. It’s not easy, and I often fail.

The important thing is to be mindful of our frail and brief time, and what’s important. Posts like yours needs to be repeated & shared; often.

Totally true, David, and this is what I need right now to keep going through this hard situation . . . Thanks! Hope God help your friend and if there is not way back, that she goes in peace to a better place. Love.

David, you are spot on with your post. We all feel that life is long, but in the grand scheme of things, it is only a blink of an eye. We believe that the tangible things are important, but in reality a gentle smile or a “thank you” means much more. Keep up your great spirit!

Amen brother! Thank you for being so frank. Prayers are on the way. This is your best post ever!

My wife and I have talked of this very topic many times over our 40 years together (and counting). We know many people that do nothing but work and have no real life outside.

We made a pact upon marriage to pick up a new sport every year. We did that for the first 15 years, and the memories and experiences still give us lots of stories for the nieces and nephews.

We then started to travel, and make a point of 5 weeks of vacation each year — 3 weeks in a new country we have never been too, plus two other 1 week trips revisiting places. Work only gives 2 weeks vacation, so I just tell my boss(es) that I will take 3 unpaid, and if they don’t like it, I’ll go work somewhere else.

We are now near retirement, and making plans to move to Central America or South America or New Zealand or Austrailia or… the possibilities are endless, but we expect to start our next 20 years of exploration soon.

Thank you, David!

David, Wonderful post indeed, so true. As I get a bit older I realise time accelerates! You really must appreciate the here and now and do your best to make it worth appreciating.

And that line about picking up the guitar, losing weight and the French lessons – holy mother of figs, have you been watching me? 😉

Strength & Length of days to you!

Beautifully written David. You”ve given me a needed booster shot! Success in all your future endeavors.

Wow! Thanks David for that post.

Agreed. Thank you for that.

All true things you say. But even if every one of those dreams was followed and achieved — would it be enough? I don’t know about you, but my own experience has shown me that my desire is infinite; with every thing I achieve that I had dreamed would bring me satisfaction, I find myself wanting something more. The satisfaction is temporary and fleeting. Why? Because we are made for the infinite, and only the infinite will suffice.

Yes, dreams are important and should be followed. But the answer to your happiness is here and now; it is in whether you live your circumstances — whatever they might be — with the awareness that you are destined for the infinite, and that in fact, the infinite has already entered history and is with you.

Thank you for the chance to share my own little sermon. My prayers are with you and your friends.

Very nice post, David. We all need constant reminders of how precious our time here really is, for how quickly we forget that this gift will not last forever, or even a day. My thoughts and prayers go out to your friend and his wife. And my thanks go out to you for sharing so much with all of us.

Best post. Ever.

I will send prayers your friends way. As I know as well, life is short, having lost both of my siblings tragically last year. I love this blog – it’s so true. We place so much meaning on the trivial things in life and sometimes not enough on the things that really matter. It’s easy to get caught up in that, and to feel sorry for yourself. I know some days I’m still there, trying to heal. I’m preparing for a 2 level spinal fusion on 11/24 and have been feeling sorry for myself. But I have to keep a bigger perspective, knowing that I will do this, come out stronger, happier, and I’ll be able to be a little more speedy to chase those elusive dreams down. Much positive thought and prayer to your friend and his wife. It is unjust and unfair; somtimes it makes me wonder why these things happen. Melissa

I just wanted you to know… I’ve been a “fan” of yours for quite some time…I’ve bought all of your books, many in both paper and ebook versions, I’ve drooled over your photographs and sighed over your words of encouragement (and even more so your words of angst, which encourage me onward)…I’ve wished and hoped that “I could do what you are doing”…I am one of those people! And, I have taken the leap…forward! I made myself completely available for the possibility…and the possibility just walked into my life, as if it had been standing at the door all along. I will be traveling this year with an NGO doing amazing work with Burmese refugees…as their documetary photographer. I wanted you to know. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For everything.

Wow – talk about timing. My dream photography job just got confirmed yesterday…and I’m scared crapless! I’ve been working towards this for years while holding down a job in a career that’s not me and in the last 24 hrs I have become fully aware of the inertia of a “safe”, known day to day life and how easy that all seems…and how attractive it is when I’m about to step out into the unknown…and I’m scared crapless. I wanted to thank you for sharing this post with such eloquence and passion. It’ll be one more weapon I can use against the wimpy part of me when it tries to convince me of how much easier it would be to crawl back into bed with the tv remote instead of taking charge of my life and seizing this opportunity. As each journey continues, I’ll keep your friends – and you as you take your next step – in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you for sharing this. I will be praying for your friend and his wife.

I’m very thankful for this post. I’m unsure of almost everything in my life at the moment. I really took to heart all of your thoughts. It helped me to realize that it’s time that I step out in faith for what I believe.

Thank you for this post, David. A good friend of mine passed away three years ago of cancer – same age as me – and it was quite a wake-up call. You think you still have all this time to do things and keep putting it off. It certainly made me re-evaluate my priorities. Best wishes to your friend and his wife. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

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I was touched by your story and i hope you do not mind but i put link to the blog on my website.

Great post David. This is exactly why I left IBM and joined you in Kathmandu. My prayers are with your friend. Now is all we really have; thanks for sharing, safe travels.

Thanks for sharing David. My deepest sympathy to you and your friend. Life is cruel.

This post is very poignant for two reasons for me.

Firstly I heard today that one of my best friends’ dads passed away over night due to cancer. Only a few months ago he was fit and well and looking forward to the wedding of his youngest daughter. The family’s devestated and nothing I can say can make it better. Life is cruel.

The second reason is that I have been reflecting myself over the last couple of months that life is too short. I spend most of my life at work, overworked, overstressed, living for the weekend, just doing it to pay the bills. I have no time or energy to follow my passions though constantly battle with the feeling that a passion would always find the time or energy, leaving me to wonder what else I have. Life is cruel, and life is too short. But what do we do about it?

My sympathy and thanks again.

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Thank you David.

My heart goes out to your friend and his wife as my brother lost his battle to brain cancer 3 years ago. I’ll just add my prayers to those of everyone else. And also thank you for your words today. They are very important for me to hear/read. I’ve read most of your e-books but don’t often get to your blog. thanks so much!!

Thanks for this David and prayers to your friend and his wife.

Hey – consider this a gift card of 5 F-I-V-E Scandinavian bear hugs. Valid for one year. Coupon Codes are WW1 through WW5.

You’re a great photographer David, but you’re an even better human being.

Hi David –

My thoughts are with your friends.

I’ve been a fan of your e-books for a while now, but only just found your blog today. Great post, some things I needed to hear right now. Thanks. 🙂

Prayers are on the way for your friends, David. Thank you for sharing this today. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are living on borrowed time.

David, you are not the only one who shed a tear over this post.

Prayers to your friends David.

My husband and I are always saying – live in the NOW. It is all we have. I have had breast cancer and a serious colon-rectal cancer for which I am still having checkups. We are in the process of planning another trip to Europe. 30 years ago we put travel as #1 priority in our lives. Started what we call a “trip account” and to this day still add to it monthly. We have budgeted well and done a lot of travelling. Many times when I was sick knowing I had so many wonderful memories of the world I had seen – and no regrets – really helped. Life is not a rehearsal – just do it!!

Love reading your blog.

Well said, David. The older we get the faster time moves until we look back and 10 years of our “prime” are gone and few of the things on our checklist are done. For all any of us know (and those of us who have lost family too early know), there may be no “next year”.

Tough to balance pragmatism (saving money, doing the routine we all do most weeks) and truly living life to a fuller extent. My first piece of advice for everyone who feels time slipping away: turn off your damn television! You can’t think clearly or plan out your next adventure with the idiot box running. 😉

Thank you…that is all.

David, First off my thoughts and prayers go out to your friend and his wife. Having lost my wife of 28 years this past June, after a 17 year battle with breast cancer, I think about this every day. Every word you wrote is so true. -Steve

No just some “mojo”, but some definite prayers going out to your friends, David.

Thanks for writing this David. It is something we all forget but shouldn’t. I’m one of those that is stuck in a miserable job and trying to figure out how to make a living at something I love. Your posts are an inspiration for me although sometimes tear jerkers, they keep me taking steps forward.

Thank you David ..I believe strongly in everything you just wrote in your blog..but as Aileen mentioned..sometimes a message comes to you just when you need it…somewhat like a swift kick in the backside. I send good energy to your friends who are having to endure this incredible trial and I hope to take these words to remind me of what is important on a daily basis..life is indeed short, go live!

Great post, David. I’ve been thinking this for the last few years. Lots of personal tragedies and trials that have reinforced that belief with me, as well.

One of my favorite bands in the world, NoMeansNo, is a Vancouver group who once wrote, “I got tired of waiting because i found out / There’s only a fine line between / Biding one’s time and waisting one’s time.”

Be well, stay strong and thanks for sharing, as always.

this is a week of too many life changing things happening to people in my world.

you are bang on.

good thoughts for your friends, and for you.

Thank you for this excellent post David! Nice to see you in Boudhanath in october. Greetings from Barcelona 🙂

Thank you so much for this post and sharing your heart! Sending mojo up for your friends and continuing to chase down those dreams.

this is exactly what i needed to read at the right time. Thank you David.

Amen. Mojo sent.

David: Blessings and peace to your friend and his wife.

You have just said in a (not so) few words, what I have been thinking myself for a long time. It is not that many people have not had similar thoughts but too few have acted on these ideas. You are absolutely right. Time is NOT money. You can not lend it or borrow it in absolute terms, but one can ‘invest’ it earn great returns.

We should, all mankind, deeply think about these things and spend our time wisely. Thanks for the blog and your wise and sometimes wide-ranging advice. Errol

David, this is a post which I find resonating strongly with what I’m feeling now. I thought I’ve always been living my life with the fullest passion I absolutely can, but when you wake up literally having to give yourself a positivity jab for months it became clear to me to listen to my heart.

I decided to let the whispers come through as a voice loud & clear – to shoot, travel, love as though tomorrow’s my last. Yes, I might be a fool for possibly getting my heart broken by taking a chance with someone. But I also know, if it is not done today we might not have a tomorrow to do so. And for my passion for travel & shooting, it is a love so strong in me that it’s the compass that directs me onto the future journeys I’m taking.

Having lost my aunt to cancer last year & running Terry Fox’s this year in memory of her, I was reminded despite it being a year without her laughter, I have a lifetime of memories to get me through it. All the best to your good friend.

Thankful to have cross paths with you too, love & light – namaste xxxx

thanks for this david! …hoping for the best for your friend, his wife…and their family/friends.

Thank you David… and prayers for your friends.

Thank you, David. Needed this today.

HI David, Thank you for this post, a great reminder to all of us. I too went through a time like this in my life (5years ago next week).. and at that time I came to exactly the same conclusions as you… But still we need reminding. Daily life creeps in there and sometimes we forget. Thank you for this. Sending positive mojo their way! Wendy D PS Big changes are very good!

Thanks for the reminder David. Healing white light and energy going out to your friends, and to you as well. I leave in just 43 days for my third “trip of a life time,” and have more planned for the upcoming years:) Your e-books are coming with me on my little netbook – your wisdom and grace will travel with me in my head and heart. Thank you again and be well David – I look forward to following your journey. Lynn

Good for you David!! Please post more on this as you figure out what you are going to do. I’m currently looking to do something similar, except I’m looking for a small apartment to rent in NZ so I can spend the time just shooting my beloved LF.

thank you. i just love this post. sometimes things come to you when you need them. i needed this. bless you. A

My thoughts and prayers are with your friends. This post… I sit here with tears in my eyes. You are right, absolutely one hundred percent right in every word. Thank you.

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Life is short, and for good reason – here’s how to make it more meaningful

Professor, University of Sydney

Disclosure statement

Dean Rickles receives funding from The Australian Research Council, The John Templeton Foundation, and the Franklin-Fetzer Fund (through the Foundational Questions Institute).

University of Sydney provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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In 1605 the great Spanish novelist, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, wrote, through the mouthpiece of Don Quixote of La Mancha , that it is

the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not to venture all his eggs in one basket.

But just how wise is this? I argue not at all.

It is the height of folly “to keep oneself for tomorrow” if one desires a meaningful existence, and simply leads to an un-lived life, filled with nothing but unrealised possibilities and what-might-have-beens. A wise person should surely live a real life?

Yet, for secular society at least, we appear to have taken this quixotic wisdom very much to heart. It seemingly forms the basis of financial portfolio optimisation where it manifests as the dictum that one should “diversify one’s portfolio” and not risk too much in one specific investment. On the surface this might appear to be a good, rational way to live: treat life like an economic problem (where this approach obviously has merit in terms of investment returns) and, above all else, minimise losses. The less we choose, the less we risk. After all, commitment often involves leaving the other options behind. It is risk heavy.

In the psycho-therapeutic context (borrowing from Carl Gustav Jung ’s theories), those that live as if time were unlimited, keeping all options open, are referred as Puer Aeterni : eternal children. It is precisely by grounding oneself in reality, committing to it, choosing some course of action, being decisive, and so on, that one grows up.

Puers live a merely provisional life, since it is essentially an exercise in reality avoidance. This state of being is no better than reading about tasting wine or hearing music, or watching someone else have an orgasm on a screen, and expecting that to be a sufficient proxy for experiencing such things in reality.

Jung was writing almost a century ago. Today, it is as though a peculiar force is driving us further and further from reality. With COVID-19 we found ourselves locked away, teaching and meeting over Zoom, which has persisted beyond the lockdowns. With the advent of “the Metaverse”, humanity faces the possibility of unplugging even more from the real world and from real life.

Of course, technology can be a wonderful tool, and I’m not dismissing the utility of Zoom and virtual reality (which, of course, might allow a more immersive version of Zooming), but we must be constantly on guard against succumbing to attempts to undermine our ability and our existential need to make choices that matter.

A society of people unwilling to commit to action that will affect the world for which they are responsible is tantamount to a society of children, whatever their chronological age. Indeed, the psychoanalyst Dan Kiley once recast this puer complex in terms of J. M. Barrie’s archetypal character Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, whose motto is

Stars are beautiful, but they may not take part in anything, they must just look on forever.

The puer might have “ecstasies innumerable” but find themselves, to quote Barrie again , “looking through the window at the one joy from which [they] must be for ever barred.” And so it is with those unable to commit to some specific future, person, job, etc. They cannot be said to properly live or to engage properly with the world and its inhabitants. They are already living in a kind of simulation.

Jung called this state “the provisional life.” Likewise, much earlier, the stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, in his book On the Shortness of Life , refers to a “tossing about” rather than a “journey,” which forges a path through the space of possibilities with intention, design, and often courage. Life is not merely existing. It is not just being there through the lapse of time.

Read more: What would Seneca say? Six Stoic tips for surviving lockdown

Commitment as a sacrifice

But perhaps we shouldn’t be quite so dismissive of the avoidance of commitment, as Kiley, Jung, and Seneca were. The world is indeed full of possibilities. But a world full of possibility is also full of uncertainty (the basis of the risk mentioned earlier). And from this uncertainty comes the anxiety of having to face the risking of decisions.

What is the ultimate source of this anxiety? I suspect it is the latent knowledge that each decisive action taken is simultaneously a kind of death; as much a destructive act as a creative or productive one, killing off alternatives to allow just a single one to live.

A commitment is thus a sacrificial offering of sorts, of the other possibilities – this is also a sacrifice to the possibility that is made actual, thereby magnifying its significance. The anxiety is the recognition that decisions can matter in a fundamental way, both for the decider and for the world around them.

Hence, the solution, assumed to be rational, is simply to not make any decisions and keep all options on the table. And, of course, since our space of possibilities is ever-shrinking as we age, we want to retain as many options as possible, viewing them as the very spring of life. But a life without limit can produce only a stagnant pond.

Such limits become most directly observed at a moment of crisis. There are times when we fully realise we stand at a fork in the road. That feeling is fear, because we know at such moments we are pruning away some possibilities in an irreversible way. Indeed, the very word “crisis” comes from the Greek word for deciding: krinein .

The fear is rational because it is a momentous thing. Often this comes at mid-life, of course, because we know that we are also at a turning point: at best, halfway to the end. At this point decisions seem to take on a greater magnitude precisely because our options are becoming more limited. Here, we find that death, like a beam of light, focuses as it narrows.

Ordinarily, we think of limitations (especially death, the ultimate limit) as things that disrupt our freedom precisely because they remove possibilities in this way. But, paradoxically, limits can be seen to give birth to freedom. And, furthermore, this freedom born of limitation is where a bounty of meaning lies for all of us.

Read more: Friday essay: on reckoning with the fact of one's death

Immortality is not a good idea

All of this clearly impacts the ongoing obsession with immortality . This is the biggest folly of all. Living forever, immortality, is not a good idea if you want a life of meaning.

While Seneca argued “it’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it,” I argue that life’s very shortness is, in fact, the primary source of its meaning. Life is short, and it is so for good reason.

The German philosopher Martin Heidegger defended a similar view in his book Being and Time, which is undoubtedly a work of genius, but there’s a friendlier version of the idea in the TV Series The Good Place (where the “good place” is the eternal afterlife).

In the penultimate episode, the inhabitants are offered a way out of a bland eternity and into oblivion, many gladly accept the latter precisely because meaning evaporates without limitation.

Read more: Kantian comedy: the philosophy of The Good Place

Death is the most important limitation of all because this finite boundary is required to enable the choosing of possibilities. It makes only some actual, along with the discarding of virtual possibilities.

Death allows us to build meaning into our lives. It leads to the very opposite of virtual reality. Life, through our choices, becomes a kind of reality-construction project. Here lies the bounty.

Of course, many lives are too short in order to generate much or any meaning in this way, when taken too young, for example. There is not much to say by way of justification for this. I certainly would say that while a finite, short life is required for meaning, meaning also demands that life have a duration sufficient to at least allow for the growth of a person to a certain level where they are capable of making choices and forging a path in the world. However, a long life does not necessarily contain more meaning than a shorter one. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once put it, acknowledging that we don’t always get to choose how long we have, “[i]t is not length of life, but depth of life” that really matters.

So while we take away the godlike property of being unlimited when we leave the provisional behind us and commit by making a decision and acting, we open the door to another godlike ability: the creative and cosmic power of choice, of actualising some possibility from the many available.

While it doesn’t seem like it, death is our greatest gift in terms of meaningful existence since it is the very source of choice, of having to decide, precisely due to its focusing effect.

Decisive action is you being in control of what happens. It is you happening to the world, rather than it happening to you. This is real freedom.

Dean Rickles’ book Life is Short is published by Princeton University Press.

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] If you ask yourself what you spend your time on that's bullshit, you probably already know the answer. Unnecessary meetings, pointless disputes, bureaucracy, posturing, dealing with other people's mistakes, traffic jams, addictive but unrewarding pastimes. There are two ways this kind of thing gets into your life: it's either forced on you, or it tricks you. To some extent you have to put up with the bullshit forced on you by circumstances. You need to make money, and making money consists mostly of errands. Indeed, the law of supply and demand ensures that: the more rewarding some kind of work is, the cheaper people will do it. It may be that less bullshit is forced on you than you think, though. There has always been a stream of people who opt out of the default grind and go live somewhere where opportunities are fewer in the conventional sense, but life feels more authentic. This could become more common. You can do it on a smaller scale without moving. The amount of time you have to spend on bullshit varies between employers. Most large organizations (and many small ones) are steeped in it. But if you consciously prioritize bullshit avoidance over other factors like money and prestige, you can probably find employers that will waste less of your time. If you're a freelancer or a small company, you can do this at the level of individual customers. If you fire or avoid toxic customers, you can decrease the amount of bullshit in your life by more than you decrease your income. But while some amount of bullshit is inevitably forced on you, the bullshit that sneaks into your life by tricking you is no one's fault but your own. And yet the bullshit you choose may be harder to eliminate than the bullshit that's forced on you. Things that lure you into wasting your time have to be really good at tricking you. An example that will be familiar to a lot of people is arguing online. When someone contradicts you, they're in a sense attacking you. Sometimes pretty overtly. Your instinct when attacked is to defend yourself. But like a lot of instincts, this one wasn't designed for the world we now live in. Counterintuitive as it feels, it's better most of the time not to defend yourself. Otherwise these people are literally taking your life. ] Arguing online is only incidentally addictive. There are more dangerous things than that. As I've written before, one byproduct of technical progress is that things we like tend to become . Which means we will increasingly have to make a conscious effort to avoid addictions � to stand outside ourselves and ask "is this how I want to be spending my time?" As well as avoiding bullshit, one should actively seek out things that matter. But different things matter to different people, and most have to learn what matters to them. A few are lucky and realize early on that they love math or taking care of animals or writing, and then figure out a way to spend a lot of time doing it. But most people start out with a life that's a mix of things that matter and things that don't, and only gradually learn to distinguish between them. For the young especially, much of this confusion is induced by the artificial situations they find themselves in. In middle school and high school, what the other kids think of you seems the most important thing in the world. But when you ask adults what they got wrong at that age, nearly all say they cared too much what other kids thought of them. One heuristic for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Fake stuff that matters usually has a sharp peak of seeming to matter. That's how it tricks you. The area under the curve is small, but its shape jabs into your consciousness like a pin. The things that matter aren't necessarily the ones people would call "important." Having coffee with a friend matters. You won't feel later like that was a waste of time. One great thing about having small children is that they make you spend time on things that matter: them. They grab your sleeve as you're staring at your phone and say "will you play with me?" And odds are that is in fact the bullshit-minimizing option. If life is short, we should expect its shortness to take us by surprise. And that is just what tends to happen. You take things for granted, and then they're gone. You think you can always write that book, or climb that mountain, or whatever, and then you realize the window has closed. The saddest windows close when other people die. Their lives are short too. After my mother died, I wished I'd spent more time with her. I lived as if she'd always be there. And in her typical quiet way she encouraged that illusion. But an illusion it was. I think a lot of people make the same mistake I did. The usual way to avoid being taken by surprise by something is to be consciously aware of it. Back when life was more precarious, people used to be aware of death to a degree that would now seem a bit morbid. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem the right answer to be constantly reminding oneself of the grim reaper hovering at everyone's shoulder. Perhaps a better solution is to look at the problem from the other end. Cultivate a habit of impatience about the things you most want to do. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. You don't need to be constantly reminding yourself why you shouldn't wait. Just don't wait. I can think of two more things one does when one doesn't have much of something: try to get more of it, and savor what one has. Both make sense here. How you live affects how long you live. Most people could do better. Me among them. But you can probably get even more effect by paying closer attention to the time you have. It's easy to let the days rush by. The "flow" that imaginative people love so much has a darker cousin that prevents you from pausing to savor life amid the daily slurry of errands and alarms. One of the most striking things I've read was not in a book, but the title of one: James Salter's . It is possible to slow time somewhat. I've gotten better at it. Kids help. When you have small children, there are a lot of moments so perfect that you can't help noticing. It does help too to feel that you've squeezed everything out of some experience. The reason I'm sad about my mother is not just that I miss her but that I think of all the things we could have done that we didn't. My oldest son will be 7 soon. And while I miss the 3 year old version of him, I at least don't have any regrets over what might have been. We had the best time a daddy and a 3 year old ever had. Relentlessly prune bullshit, don't wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. That's what you do when life is short. [ ] At first I didn't like it that the word that came to mind was one that had other meanings. But then I realized the other meanings are fairly closely related. Bullshit in the sense of things you waste your time on is a lot like intellectual bullshit. [ ] I chose this example deliberately as a note to self. I get attacked a lot online. People tell the craziest lies about me. And I have so far done a pretty mediocre job of suppressing the natural human inclination to say "Hey, that's not true!" to Jessica Livingston and Geoff Ralston for reading drafts of this. The Shortness of Life: Seneca on Busyness and the Art of Living Wide Rather Than Living Long By maria popova. “How we spend our days,” Annie Dillard memorably wrote in her soul-stretching meditation on the life of presence , “is, of course, how we spend our lives.” And yet most of us spend our days in what Kierkegaard believed to be our greatest source of unhappiness — a refusal to recognize that “busy is a decision” and that presence is infinitely more rewarding than productivity . I frequently worry that being productive is the surest way to lull ourselves into a trance of passivity and busyness the greatest distraction from living, as we coast through our lives day after day, showing up for our obligations but being absent from our selves, mistaking the doing for the being. Despite a steadily swelling human life expectancy, these concerns seem more urgent than ever — and yet they are hardly unique to our age. In fact, they go as far back as the record of human experience and endeavor. It is unsurprising, then, that the best treatment of the subject is also among the oldest: Roman philosopher Seneca’s spectacular 2,000-year-old treatise On the Shortness of Life ( public library ) — a poignant reminder of what we so deeply intuit yet so easily forget and so chronically fail to put into practice. Seneca writes: It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it. Millennia before the now-tired adage that “time is money,” Seneca cautions that we fail to treat time as a valuable resource, even though it is arguably our most precious and least renewable one: People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy. To those who so squander their time, he offers an unambiguous admonition: You are living as if destined to live for ever; your own frailty never occurs to you; you don’t notice how much time has already passed, but squander it as though you had a full and overflowing supply — though all the while that very day which you are devoting to somebody or something may be your last. You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire… How late it is to begin really to live just when life must end! How stupid to forget our mortality, and put off sensible plans to our fiftieth and sixtieth years, aiming to begin life from a point at which few have arrived! Nineteen centuries later, Bertrand Russell, another of humanity’s greatest minds, lamented rhetorically, “What will be the good of the conquest of leisure and health, if no one remembers how to use them?” But even Seneca, writing in the first century, saw busyness — that dual demon of distraction and preoccupation — as an addiction that stands in the way of mastering the art of living: No activity can be successfully pursued by an individual who is preoccupied … since the mind when distracted absorbs nothing deeply, but rejects everything which is, so to speak, crammed into it. Living is the least important activity of the preoccupied man; yet there is nothing which is harder to learn… Learning how to live takes a whole life, and, which may surprise you more, it takes a whole life to learn how to die. In our habitual compulsion to ensure that the next moment contains what this one lacks, Seneca suggests, we manage to become, as another wise man put it , “accomplished fugitives from ourselves.” Seneca writes: Everyone hustles his life along, and is troubled by a longing for the future and weariness of the present. But the man who … organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the next day… Nothing can be taken from this life, and you can only add to it as if giving to a man who is already full and satisfied food which he does not want but can hold. So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long. For suppose you should think that a man had had a long voyage who had been caught in a raging storm as he left harbor, and carried hither and thither and driven round and round in a circle by the rage of opposing winds? He did not have a long voyage, just a long tossing about. Seneca is particularly skeptical of the double-edged sword of achievement and ambition — something David Foster Wallace would later eloquently censure — which causes us to steep in our cesspool of insecurity, dissatisfaction, and clinging: It is inevitable that life will be not just very short but very miserable for those who acquire by great toil what they must keep by greater toil. They achieve what they want laboriously; they possess what they have achieved anxiously; and meanwhile they take no account of time that will never more return. New preoccupations take the place of the old, hope excites more hope and ambition more ambition. They do not look for an end to their misery, but simply change the reason for it. This, Seneca cautions, is tenfold more toxic for the soul when one is working for the man, as it were, and toiling away toward goals laid out by another: Indeed the state of all who are preoccupied is wretched, but the most wretched are those who are toiling not even at their own preoccupations, but must regulate their sleep by another’s, and their walk by another’s pace, and obey orders in those freest of all things, loving and hating. If such people want to know how short their lives are, let them reflect how small a portion is their own. In one particularly prescient aside, Seneca makes a remark that crystallizes what is really at stake when a person asks, not to mention demands, another’s time — an admonition that applies with poignant precision to the modern malady of incessant meeting requests and the rather violating barrage of People Wanting Things: All those who call you to themselves draw you away from yourself. […] I am always surprised to see some people demanding the time of others and meeting a most obliging response. Both sides have in view the reason for which the time is asked and neither regards the time itself — as if nothing there is being asked for and nothing given. They are trifling with life’s most precious commodity, being deceived because it is an intangible thing, not open to inspection and therefore reckoned very cheap — in fact, almost without any value. He suggests that protecting our time is essential self-care, and the opposite a dangerous form of self-neglect: Nobody works out the value of time: men use it lavishly as if it cost nothing… We have to be more careful in preserving what will cease at an unknown point. He captures what a perilous form of self-hypnosis our trance of busyness is: No one will bring back the years; no one will restore you to yourself. Life will follow the path it began to take, and will neither reverse nor check its course. It will cause no commotion to remind you of its swiftness, but glide on quietly. It will not lengthen itself for a king’s command or a people’s favor. As it started out on its first day, so it will run on, nowhere pausing or turning aside. What will be the outcome? You have been preoccupied while life hastens on. Meanwhile death will arrive, and you have no choice in making yourself available for that. But even “more idiotic,” to use his unambiguous language, than keeping ourselves busy is indulging the vice of procrastination — not the productivity-related kind , but the existential kind, that limiting longing for certainty and guarantees , which causes us to obsessively plan and chronically put off pursuing our greatest aspirations and living our greatest truths on the pretext that the future will somehow provide a more favorable backdrop: Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately. Seneca reframes this with an apt metaphor: You must match time’s swiftness with your speed in using it, and you must drink quickly as though from a rapid stream that will not always flow… Just as travelers are beguiled by conversation or reading or some profound meditation, and find they have arrived at their destination before they knew they were approaching it; so it is with this unceasing and extremely fast-moving journey of life, which waking or sleeping we make at the same pace — the preoccupied become aware of it only when it is over. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his own occupation, Seneca points to the study of philosophy as the only worthwhile occupation of the mind and spirit — an invaluable teacher that helps us learn how to inhabit our own selves fully in this “brief and transient spell” of existence and expands our short lives sideways, so that we may live wide rather than long. He writes: Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only those are really alive. For they not only keep a good watch over their own lifetimes, but they annex every age to theirs. All the years that have passed before them are added to their own. Unless we are very ungrateful, all those distinguished founders of holy creeds were born for us and prepared for us a way of life. By the toil of others we are led into the presence of things which have been brought from darkness into light. […] From them you can take whatever you wish: it will not be their fault if you do not take your fill from them. What happiness, what a fine old age awaits the man who has made himself a client of these! He will have friends whose advice he can ask on the most important or the most trivial matters, whom he can consult daily about himself, who will tell him the truth without insulting him and praise him without flattery, who will offer him a pattern on which to model himself. Perhaps most poignantly, however, Seneca suggests that philosophy offers a kind of spiritual reparenting to those of us who didn’t win the lottery of existence and didn’t benefit from the kind of nurturing, sound, fully present parenting that is so essential to the cultivation of inner wholeness: We are in the habit of saying that it was not in our power to choose the parents who were allotted to us, that they were given to us by chance. But we can choose whose children we would like to be. There are households of the noblest intellects: choose the one into which you wish to be adopted, and you will inherit not only their name but their property too. Nor will this property need to be guarded meanly or grudgingly: the more it is shared out, the greater it will become. These will offer you a path to immortality and raise you to a point from which no one is cast down. This is the only way to prolong mortality — even to convert it to immortality. On the Shortness of Life is a sublime read in its pithy totality. Complement it with some Montaigne’s timeless lessons on the art of living and Alan Watts on how to live with presence . Thanks, Liz — Published September 1, 2014 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/09/01/seneca-on-the-shortness-of-life/ — www.themarginalian.org PRINT ARTICLE Email article, filed under, books culture philosophy psychology seneca, view full site. 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On the Shortness of Life: Book Summary, Key Lessons, and Best Quotes In his moral essay, On the Shortness of Life , Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and playwright, offers us an urgent reminder on the non-renewability of our most important resource: our time. It is a required reading for anyone who wishes to live to their full potential, and it is a manifesto on how to get back control of your life and live it to the fullest. In fact, perhaps Seneca’s most famous quote comes from this essay: It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Seneca urges us to examine the problems that result in life seeming to pass by too quickly, such as ambition, giving all our time to others, and engaging in vice. He argues that we have truly lived only a short time because our lives were filled with business and stress. How do we regain our time back? It is by studying philosophy, working towards meaningful goals, and not putting off the enjoyment of life. Before we continue with the essay’s key lessons, a bit of background: De Brevitate Vitae, as it is known in Latin, is in fact addressed to Paulinus. This is most likely Pompeius Paulinus, a knight of Arelate and historians date it around 49 AD. What we find in reading the essay is that Paulinus was praefectus annonae, or the official who superintended the grain supply of Rome. We see this when Seneca is imploring Paulinus to transition from taking stock of the grain supply to taking stock of his life. And if you’re new to Stoic philosophy , here is a bit of background on Seneca (although you are welcome to read our longer profile ): Seneca was one of the three most important Stoic philosophers, along with Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus . He is also infamous for serving as an advisor to Nero, one of the most cruel emperors. He is best known for this essay but also for his Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, better known as Moral Letters to Lucilius , which we also highly recommend . Below you will find key lessons from the essay, great quotes as well as our suggested translation to get. Just like Meditations by Marcus Aurelius , another imminently readable Stoic text, it will mark you forever if you let it. Your Most Important Asset “In guarding their fortune men are often closefisted, yet, when it comes to the matter of wasting time, in the case of the one thing in which it is right to be miserly, they show themselves most extravagant.” Does it make any sense to value anything above your only life? Seneca certainly doesn’t think so. Yet we find ourselves trading our only life away to make others like us, to get money (which we cannot use in the grave), and be lazy, distracted and entertained. The main reason that we do so, Seneca argues, we waste so much of our time is because we forget that it is limited, that we are going to die . Seneca scolds, “You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.” Wasting time is the worst thing we can do to ourselves, but of course, there are many things and people that would take away our precious time. When Seneca says to be “miserly” with your time, he means it. He implores us to be suspicious of any activity that will take a lot of time and be prepared to defend ourselves against unworthy pursuits. It is with a similar reminder that Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius would urge himself in his Meditations , realizing the limited amount of time we have: “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” For that very reason we have created our memento mori (“remember that you will die”) medallion , a physical reminder to carry that sense of urgency in one’s pocket and not waste a second. How Little Is Left Over For You Seneca uses the example of highly successful Romans to demonstrate that great achievement comes at a high price: a life that rushes by, filled with obligations and empty of leisure. Seneca mentions that Augustus Caesar, considered one of the greatest Romans of all time, constantly wished aloud for a break from his many duties and desperately longed to live a leisurely life. Seneca explains: “This was the sweet, even if vain, consolation with which he would gladden his labors—that he would one day live for himself.” Augustus spent his life in directing conquests, but ultimately did not even have control of his own life, because he was not free to use his time how he wanted. Seneca wanted to demonstrate that the greatness men strive for can be a horrible trap, an overwhelming river of responsibilities that washes away the only life we get. Seneca is making a powerful claim—it would be better to live as you choose than to rule the world. The great Roman politician, speaker, and writer, Marcus Cicero, considered himself a prisoner in his large and luxurious home, simply because of his many obligations. He complained about the life he had, a life that many others surely envied, and one that certainly had potential to be enjoyable. Seneca is critical of Cicero’s complaint of being a prisoner, claiming that no Stoic could ever be a prisoner since he possesses himself in any circumstance, being above despairing about one’s fate. This is a brief return to the prescription of philosophy, especially Stoic philosophy, for the problem of a life that can seem to rush by uncontrollably while we scramble to do our work and please others. How to Live With Duty and Purpose Seneca believes it is important to make room for leisure in life, but a life of pure leisure is considered meaningless. He speaks of people who never have to lift a finger and have unlearned basic human functions as a status symbol, something that still occurs in our time. He says of such a man, “He is sick, nay, he is dead.” Purposeful living is required to truly live, as long as it is a purpose that one owns and controls. Seneca is also critical of another type of excessive luxury, that concerned with making a show of everything and being fancy. He calls people who pursue this “idly preoccupied” and thusly wasting their only lives on vain pursuits. He condemns those concerned about the appearance of their hair, which could be extended to anyone who fusses over their looks, and claims they are not truly at leisure. By focusing on how we look, we are wasting our most precious resource of all, time. There are endless other distractions this lesson can be applied to, especially in modern times, where we invest a lot of life force in our presence on social media. An interesting way to conceptualize this is to think of the screen sucking your soul away while you browse Twitter and Facebook, or while you watch TV. Since our time is our only life, this is not an exaggeration. Seneca is essentially prompting us to question our lives and ask: What proof do I have that I’m really alive? Many of us are living what might as well be considered a life of mere existence: lazing around and wasting our potential. But Seneca defines actual living as being in control of yourself and either enjoying yourself meaningfully and working towards goals that are important to you. He compares how most of us seem to live to a boat that has never left the harbor: “For what if you should think that that man had had a long voyage who had been caught by a fierce storm as soon as he left harbor, and, swept hither and thither by a succession of winds that raged from different quarters, had been driven in a circle around the same course? Not much voyaging did he have, but much tossing about.” Summary & Key Takeaways The most important lesson of On the Shortness of Life of course is that we need to value our time and avoid wasting it at all costs. Sure, we understand this intellectually but how many of us can actually say they truly live? As Maria Popova from Brain Pickings would observe , the essay is “a poignant reminder of what we so deeply intuit yet so easily forget and so chronically fail to put into practice.” There is no shortage of things that take away our time and we must guard against them. To live this lesson, practice saying “No!” to many of the time-wasting things that you do, like trying to impress people or staring at a screen. Consider whether your potential actions are virtuous, will truly benefit you, and whether they are worthy of making up your only life. If not, commit to turning it down, even if it might cause others to be displeased with you. The lessons from On the Shortness of Life urge us to take stock of how we have lived so far, and to count the time that has been truly lived, as opposed to filled with unworthy busyness and distractions. What you can start doing today is to practice the Stoic art of journaling and start reflecting on how you spend each and every day. To borrow from Seneca, his favorite time to journal was in the evenings. When darkness had fallen and his wife had gone asleep, he explained to a friend, “I examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing by.” Then he would go to bed, finding that “the sleep which follows this self-examination” was particularly sweet. The final lesson we should take away from Seneca’s work, and a theme that is constant for the Stoics in general , is that we need to remember that we could die at any moment, and that barring some massive medical breakthrough, we have at most a few more decades left to live. We should find a way to remind ourselves every day that we are going to die, perhaps by placing Sticky notes in places we will see every day. You might feel like you don’t forget that you’re going to die, but do you think about on a regular basis? Does it inform your decision-making? Most people can’t say yes to that, so we must do a little work to make sure we can. 10 Best Seneca Quotes from On The Shortness of Life “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.” “You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire” “They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.” “There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living.” “The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today… The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” ‘“People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.” “Even though you seize the day, it still will flee; therefore, you must vie with time’s swiftness in the speed of using it, and, as from a torrent that rushes by and will not always flow, you must drink quickly.” “Of all men they alone are at leisure who take time for philosophy, they alone really live; for they are not content to be good guardians of their own lifetime only. They annex every age to their own; all the years that have gone before them are an addition to their store.” “It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.” “The part of life we really live is small. For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time.” Cicero said that he was “half a prisoner.” But, in very truth, never will the wise man resort to so lowly a term, never will he be half a prisoner—he who always possesses an undiminished and stable liberty, being free and his own master and towering over all others. For what can possibly be above him who is above Fortune?” Best Paid & Free Translation of On the Shortness of Life We recommend Penguin’s On the Shortness of Life edition translated by C.D.N Costa which includes two other great short pieces of writing from Seneca. It is a beautifully designed edition and fits perfectly in your back pocket. You can also read the essay for free online here , a translation by John W. Basore. Explore Our Daily Stoic Store Life Is Too Short To Live Someone Else's Plans Life is Short – Make the Most of It Everybody says “life is short, make the most of it,” yet, strangely, this fact of life is not accepted by almost anyone. ( Tweet this ) Indeed, there are things that a man experiences in life and the most important fact is we have to live with it, despite the fact that they may be pleasant or unpleasant. Life gives us things that we want, but with it we also have to accept things which we do not want like pain, sorrow, disappointment and regret. The ultimate truth is what you choose. Do you feel happy when you get what you want or do you emphasize on things that have gone wrong? Unfold the Facts The answer is up to every person and their temperament—that is the determining factor. Dealing with the ups and downs of life is important in life. Everybody has to face things that are unpleasant, sometimes harsh and most of the time it is the difficulties we face in life which ultimately become familiar to us. Yes, everyone is not capable of handling things in a positive way, which leads to acts that may pose another issue in front of us. Brace yourself and learn the truth of life and the purpose behind it all. To begin with, what a common man believes is that fate has brought luck to him. But if it doesn’t, then again fate is responsible. Remember, we do not always get what we wish for. So you have to face the truth. The very little that you get, if you are not satisfied about it, shows that you will always yearn for more. This happens in all aspects of life like love, job, career, marriage, salary, material possessions etc. Life is Short. Cherish What you Have We often overlook things that we have and do not cherish. It is possible that such an attitude can make you disregard things which are there for you. Many people have friends who are ready to help and share all your joys and sorrows. There are people who will let you down and people who do not care about you. This is when you can have a reality check. When you are in trouble you will know who your true friends are. Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. Normally people never love those who are climbing the success ladder. There will always be jealousy, anger, hatred etc that will not make you happy. Never expect everyone to love you, because there are people who you do not love as well. Accept the reality and you will be fine. Many of us experience these feelings, knowing well that this is not going to lead us anywhere. Failure; A Part of Life Who has not heard ‘failure?’ Everyone has to go through it. There is no one in life who has not failed (I’m not talking about exams). There is failure in business, in love, and friendship, and many more things. Accept them . . . use them to motivate you and turn around things for you. It is not the end. Failure will only lead to success. Remember till you succeed it will only be failure. Take it up as a challenge or a learning path that is teaching you to succeed. Nobody is a super being and those who do not try, never taste success. Failure is waiting to devour you at your first sign of weakness. It will knock you down and make you weak again. Remember, this is just a phase and this is not the end. Opportunities are far more which need only you to check them out. There is more to life than deceit, disappointment, hate, misery and pain. Take life as it comes, embrace the good as well as bad things and see how happy it makes you. Ultimately it is happiness that makes you complete and satisfied in whichever situation you are and in whatever little you have. Life is short, you have to live each moment like it’s your last. Try to find peace within . . . find something that you are grateful for. Be around people who think positively and shun away negative thoughts. Try to find the positive in everyone and everything . . . yeah it’s hard but if you get into the habit of doing it . . . it will become very easy. Live every day as if it were going to be your last; for one day you’re sure to be right. ~ Harry Morant. ( Tweet this ) Life is short. Make the most of it . Laugh more. Spend time with loved ones.  Life is what you make of it, and make the most that you can of it. Life is shorter than everyone thinks, and before you know it, it will be over, so enjoy it while you are still here! Life is short. So, do not hold grudges. Life is too short to not live life to the fullest. S0, Live Life, Love Life and make the most of it. personal skills About the Author Vandana singhal. Vandana Singhal writes extensively on science, technology, health, and travel. Vandana has a degree in science and is artistic in nature. Leave a Reply Video courses to transform your life, popular blogs. Popular Tracks UserID (EmailID) Remember Me Find anything you save across the site in your account Life Is Too Short Life is short. Why not spend it mired in regret? Why not spend your evenings sitting side by side at the dining-room table with your spouse, trying to determine whether your downstairs neighbors’ ceiling fan is making the floor tremble? Our existence on this planet is statistically insignificant when compared with the history of the universe. So take advantage of it! Charge your spouse six dollars and fifty cents on Venmo for “supplemental groceries.” You get to choose the life you live. And, every minute, you have the opportunity to make a different choice. Every minute, you could say, “Today, I will eat defrosted turnip soup and think about the time I felt left out at my friend’s wedding.” What you really want to do right now is call an office-supply store’s customer-service number. So why not do that? What’s holding you back? Who would you be if you stopped limiting yourself and really let yourself experience the hold music, interrupted every twenty-three seconds with “All representatives are currently assisting other callers”? The next time you find yourself adding up items in your “worst-case scenario” budget, close your eyes and really feel your fingers on the laptop keyboard with its “N” partly worn off. Sense the gentle thrum of panic in your chest, and hear the patter of the drill in the street beyond. Open your eyes and subtract another thousand. Why? Because you, my friend, deserve it. True, you could dedicate your time on earth to your relationships and the work and hobbies that give you a sense of purpose. Or you could dedicate your time to washing used ziplock bags and turning them inside out on drying racks to dry. Someone’s got to read every single tweet written by peers who have achieved success in industries that you were never interested in, so why not you ? Give yourself permission to take screenshots of other people’s life joy and text the images to acquaintances with the caption “LOL.” There are only twenty-four hours in a day, so why not say “Fuck it” and fully embrace all the sublimity of your scarcity mind-set? Why not return seventy per cent of what you buy out of fear that you’ll never be able to retire? You do you! You walk into that retailer and request a refund outside of the return window like the transcendent being you truly are! You are a gorgeous human with unlimited potential to eat week-old hard-boiled eggs, and the only person who’s holding you back from checking eighteen times to see if the stove is off is you . Every moment that you’re not sitting double-parked in your Honda Civic, protecting your spot during street cleaning, is a moment wasted. Every moment that you’re bounding through autumn leaves with your rescue puppy is a moment that you could be writing a negative review of a printer you broke. Every moment that you’re meditating is a moment that you could be thinking of comebacks to the student who called your class “lower level.” This very afternoon, you could stroll down the street as you talk to your friend on the phone, listening to each of his words, or you could put yourself on mute and clean the toilet. Your heart’s truest desire is to refuse to rejoin the family thread because you can’t handle your grandmother anymore. Of course, there’s the voice in your head telling you that you “should” forgive her for suggesting that you brush your hair more often. But forget “should”s! Focus on reading marketing e-mails instead, out of a sense of guilt! Because you have a unique and beautiful simmering rage inside you, and no one else can harbor it for you. And, if you do enjoy your time working in public defense, or knitting, or cooking recipes from around the world, or reading out loud to your spouse, well . . . honestly, that seems like something you should examine. And, whenever you decide that you want to live your life in all its exquisite smallness, we’ll be here for you with our arms firmly at our sides. ♦ More Humor and Cartoons How you know you’ve made it, by city . If you want this job, we must interview you forever . The most effective group-chat-ending texts . I’m thrilled to announce that nothing is going on with me . What I think will happen if I go to a bar and order a whiskey neat . Grammar tips from a thirty-eight-year-old with an English degree . Enter the Cartoon Caption Contest for a chance to appear in the magazine. Follow @newyorkercartoons on Instagram and sign up for the Daily Humor newsletter for more funny stuff. Share full article Advertisement Supported by Mentor texts Telling Short, Memorable Stories From Your Life: ‘My Secret Pepsi Plot’ An invitation to students to tell a meaningful story in a limited number of words, with an example from The Times’s Lives column to help. By Katherine Schulten Our new Mentor Text series spotlights writing from The Times that students can learn from and emulate. This entry, like several others we are publishing, focuses on an essay from The Times’s long-running Lives column to consider skills prized in narrative writing. We are starting with this genre to help support students participating in our 2020 Personal Narrative Essay Contest . Our Personal Narrative Essay Contest is inspired by The New York Times’s Lives column, which ran from 1996 to 2017 and featured “short, powerful stories about meaningful life experiences .” The editor of the column once posted some advice on “How to Write a Lives Essay” to guide those who submitted to the column annually. Much of that advice applies to our contest as well. For example, several points boil down to reminders to keep it simple, including tips like: Don’t try to fit your whole life into one “Lives.” Don’t try to tell the whole story. Tell a small story — an evocative, particular moment. Better to start from something very simple that you think is interesting (an incident, a person) and expand upon it, rather than a large idea that you then have to fit into a short essay. For example, start with “the day the Santa Claus in the mall asked me on a date” rather than “the state of affairs that is dating in an older age bracket.” This advice is similar to advice often given to high school seniors writing college essays : You have only 650 words to show admissions officers something important, interesting or memorable about who you are and what matters to you. A list of awards you’ve won won’t do it, but an engaging story about making brownies with your stepbrother just might. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . Becoming Minimalist Own less. Live more. Life is Too Short… Written by joshua becker · 38 Comments Seneca once wrote: It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it. This is a profound statement and I would encourage you to read it again. The more I read it, the more I am inspired by it. These phrases stick out the most to me: “It is not that we have a short time to live… but that we waste a lot of it…” “Life is long enough for the highest achievements if it were all well invested…” “It is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity…” “We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it…” I should, perhaps, end this article right now—with Seneca’s own words—rather than thinking I can improve upon them. But maybe, for just a few short sentences, I will comment. You (the person reading these words right now) were designed to achieve great things! You are unique in your being, your substance, your abilities, and your relationships. And there is no one else on the face of the earth who can live your life and accomplish your good. Please, do not forget that. There is no doubt that “success” and “achievement” are relative words and your highest achievement is different from someone else’s highest achievement. You may never lead thousands or cure cancer. But make no mistake: There is a good that you are designed to bring into this world. And there are people in your life that you can serve and love better than anyone else. Your highest achievement will be different than mine, but we both have one. And “life is long enough for us to achieve it.” Unless, as Seneca wrote, “Our lives are wasted in needless luxury and spent on no good activity.” It is up to us to decide, every day, to focus our energies on those things worthy of the one life we have been given. Discard the inessential. Remove the distractions. Reject worthless activity. Your life is too short… to waste accumulating material possessions . Your life is too short… to be offended all the time. Your life is too short… to chase accolades . Your life is too short… to compare it to others . Your life is too short… to waste watching 6 hours of television/day . Your life is too short… to pursue riches . Your life is too short… to not believe in yourself. Your life is too short… to not forgive . Your life is too short… to not speak your mind . Your life is too short… to worry about the future. Your life is too short… to regret the past . Your life is too short… to live in fear. Your life is too short… to be unhappy . Your life is too short… to waste time on the trivial . Your life is too short… to live like everyone else. Your life is too short… to not be true to yourself. And life is too short to wait. October 26, 2022 at 7:23 PM Great inspirational article❤️ September 2, 2020 at 9:02 AM This is SO, so true, Joshua. It brought me to tears on this eve of my 54th birthday. I wonder, how did I get here so fast? Where have the years gone? I can honestly say that I have done my best to live each day to the full and for some reason, I have always had a very keen realization how short life is and how quickly it goes by. But, even as I have tried to cherish each moment and cling to it for all it’s worth, those moments have slipped through my fingers like grains of sand. May the Lord help me to keep these truths ever before me and make the most of the time I have left on this earth. I want to please Him and do all I can for Him and for my precious family and loved ones while I am passing through on my way to that eternal home with Him. March 24, 2021 at 10:23 PM I know exactly how you feel , and as I read your reply , it brought me to tears and I just want to give you a big hug , because I’m in the same place and at least I’m not alone . God bless you and keep trekking Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . ONE MILLION READERS CAN’T BE WRONG Sign up to receive these posts delivered directly to your inbox for free. © 2024 Joshua Becker · Design by Brian Gardner · Archives · Search · Privacy Recommended for you Life is too short, embrace it and truly live, no one is guaranteed tomorrow.. Everyone on this earth is all living on borrowed time. We never know when our last days are going to be, and that is why we all need to start living like there is no tomorrow. We need to start going out and doing things that scare us, doing things that we enjoy, doing something new, doing anything, really, because life is way too short for "what ifs." I have had a lot of people I know die unexpectedly. Some of them had plans for the future, like going to go to a country music concert, or they had plans to celebrate a big anniversary with their spouse, or they were going to see you walk at your graduation. Seeing people I know die, and hearing about all of these unexpected deaths of celebrities really makes you think about your own life. It really makes you realize that you can go at any time, so you got to get out there and live. I have a bucket list of things that I want to do. In no particular order, I want to travel to another country, I want to learn a new language, I want to reconnect with old friends, I want to start a family with my loving fiancee, Peter, who will soon be my husband, I want an amazing wedding, and I want to try a new hobby. I want to basically try anything new. We should all go out there and try new things, and try to break out of our routine. Take a different way to school or work or wherever you go. Order a different drink from Starbucks or wherever you get your cup of joe. Instead of texting someone, call them. Spend a day away from social media and enjoy nature. Life is way too short to wait for something to happen. You should never wait for the world to be ready, instead, the world should be ready for you. Our clocks are ticking, so we need to get out there and live like there is no tomorrow, like today was your last day on earth, so make sure you always make the moments in your life count when they matter the most. Subscribe to our Newsletter 25 beatles lyrics: your go-to guide for every situation, the best lines from the fab four. For as long as I can remember, I have been listening to The Beatles. Every year, my mom would appropriately blast “Birthday” on anyone’s birthday. I knew all of the words to “Back In The U.S.S.R” by the time I was 5 (Even though I had no idea what or where the U.S.S.R was). I grew up with John, Paul, George, and Ringo instead Justin, JC, Joey, Chris and Lance (I had to google N*SYNC to remember their names). The highlight of my short life was Paul McCartney in concert twice. I’m not someone to “fangirl” but those days I fangirled hard. The music of The Beatles has gotten me through everything. Their songs have brought me more joy, peace, and comfort. I can listen to them in any situation and find what I need. Here are the best lyrics from The Beatles for every and any occasion. And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make The End- Abbey Road, 1969 The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you Dear Prudence- The White Album, 1968 Love is old, love is new, love is all, love is you Because- Abbey Road, 1969 There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be All You Need Is Love, 1967 Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend We Can Work It Out- Rubber Soul, 1965 He say, "I know you, you know me", One thing I can tell you is you got to be free Come Together- Abbey Road, 1969 Oh please, say to me, You'll let me be your man. And please say to me, You'll let me hold your hand I Wanna Hold Your Hand- Meet The Beatles!, 1964 It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to raise a smile Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band-1967 Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see Strawberry Fields Forever- Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 Can you hear me? When it rains and shine, it's just a state of mind Rain- Paperback Writer "B" side, 1966 Little darling, it's been long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it' s been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, and I say it's alright Here Comes The Sun- Abbey Road, 1969 We danced through the night and we held each other tight, and before too long I fell in love with her. Now, I'll never dance with another when I saw her standing there Saw Her Standing There- Please Please Me, 1963 I love you, I love you, I love you, that's all I want to say Michelle- Rubber Soul, 1965 You say you want a revolution. Well you know, we all want to change the world Revolution- The Beatles, 1968 All the lonely people, where do they all come from. All the lonely people, where do they all belong Eleanor Rigby- Revolver, 1966 Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends With A Little Help From My Friends- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better Hey Jude, 1968 Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday Yesterday- Help!, 1965 And when the brokenhearted people, living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be. Let It Be- Let It Be, 1970 And anytime you feel the pain, Hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders I'll give you all i got to give if you say you'll love me too. i may not have a lot to give but what i got i'll give to you. i don't care too much for money. money can't buy me love. Can't Buy Me Love- A Hard Day's Night, 1964 All you need is love, love is all you need All You Need Is Love- Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 Whisper words of wisdom, let it be Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise. Blackbird- The White Album, 1968 Though I know I'll never lose affection, for people and things that went before. I know I'll often stop and think about them. In my life, I love you more In My Life- Rubber Soul, 1965 While these are my 25 favorites, there are quite literally 1000s that could have been included. The Beatles' body of work is massive and there is something for everyone. If you have been living under a rock and haven't discovered the Fab Four, you have to get musically educated. Stream them on Spotify, find them on iTunes or even buy a CD or record (Yes, those still exist!). I would suggest starting with 1, which is a collection of most of their #1 songs, or the 1968 White Album. Give them chance and you'll never look back. 14 Invisible Activities: Unleash Your Inner Ghost! Obviously the best superpower.. The best superpower ever? Being invisible of course. Imagine just being able to go from seen to unseen on a dime. Who wouldn't want to have the opportunity to be invisible? Superman and Batman have nothing on being invisible with their superhero abilities. Here are some things that you could do while being invisible, because being invisible can benefit your social life too. 1. "Haunt" your friends. Follow them into their house and cause a ruckus. 2. Sneak into movie theaters. Going to the cinema alone is good for your mental health , says science Considering that the monthly cost of subscribing to a media-streaming service like Netflix is oft... Free movies...what else to I have to say? 3. Sneak into the pantry and grab a snack without judgment. Late night snacks all you want? Duh. 4. Reenact "Hollow Man" and play Kevin Bacon. America's favorite son? And feel what it's like to be in a MTV Movie Award nominated film? Sign me up. 5. Wear a mask and pretend to be a floating head. Just another way to spook your friends in case you wanted to. 6. Hold objects so they'll "float." "Oh no! A floating jar of peanut butter." 7. Win every game of hide-and-seek. Just stand out in the open and you'll win. 8. Eat some food as people will watch it disappear. Even everyday activities can be funny. 9. Go around pantsing your friends. Even pranks can be done; not everything can be good. 10. Not have perfect attendance. You'll say here, but they won't see you... 11. Avoid anyone you don't want to see. Whether it's an ex or someone you hate, just use your invisibility to slip out of the situation. 12. Avoid responsibilities. Chores? Invisible. People asking about social life? Invisible. Family being rude? Boom, invisible. 13. Be an expert on ding-dong-ditch. Never get caught and have the adrenaline rush? I'm down. 14. Brag about being invisible. Be the envy of the town. But don't, I repeat, don't go in a locker room. Don't be a pervert with your power. No one likes a Peeping Tom. Good luck, folks. 19 Lessons I'll Never Forget from Growing Up In a Small Town There have been many lessons learned.. Small towns certainly have their pros and cons. Many people who grow up in small towns find themselves counting the days until they get to escape their roots and plant new ones in bigger, "better" places. And that's fine. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought those same thoughts before too. We all have, but they say it's important to remember where you came from. When I think about where I come from, I can't help having an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my roots. Being from a small town has taught me so many important lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. 1. The importance of traditions. Sometimes traditions seem like a silly thing, but the fact of it is that it's part of who you are. You grew up this way and, more than likely, so did your parents. It is something that is part of your family history and that is more important than anything. 2. How to be thankful for family and friends. No matter how many times they get on your nerves or make you mad, they are the ones who will always be there and you should never take that for granted. 3. How to give back. When tragedy strikes in a small town, everyone feels obligated to help out because, whether directly or indirectly, it affects you too. It is easy in a bigger city to be able to disconnect from certain problems. But in a small town those problems affect everyone. 4. What the word "community" really means. Along the same lines as #3, everyone is always ready and willing to lend a helping hand when you need one in a small town and to me that is the true meaning of community. It's working together to build a better atmosphere, being there to raise each other up, build each other up, and pick each other up when someone is in need. A small town community is full of endless support whether it be after a tragedy or at a hometown sports game. Everyone shows up to show their support. 5. That it isn't about the destination, but the journey. People say this to others all the time, but it takes on a whole new meaning in a small town. It is true that life is about the journey, but when you're from a small town, you know it's about the journey because the journey probably takes longer than you spend at the destination. Everything is so far away that it is totally normal to spend a couple hours in the car on your way to some form of entertainment. And most of the time, you're gonna have as many, if not more, memories and laughs on the journey than at the destination. 6. The consequences of making bad choices. Word travels fast in a small town, so don't think you're gonna get away with anything. In fact, your parents probably know what you did before you even have a chance to get home and tell them. And forget about being scared of what your teacher, principle, or other authority figure is going to do, you're more afraid of what your parents are gonna do when you get home. 7. To trust people, until you have a reason not to. Everyone deserves a chance. Most people don't have ill-intentions and you can't live your life guarding against every one else just because a few people in your life have betrayed your trust. 8. To be welcoming and accepting of everyone. While small towns are not always extremely diverse, they do contain people with a lot of different stories, struggle, and backgrounds. In a small town, it is pretty hard to exclude anyone because of who they are or what they come from because there aren't many people to choose from. A small town teaches you that just because someone isn't the same as you, doesn't mean you can't be great friends. 9. How to be my own, individual person. In a small town, you learn that it's okay to be who you are and do your own thing. You learn that confidence isn't how beautiful you are or how much money you have, it's who you are on the inside. 10. How to work for what I want. Nothing comes easy in life. They always say "gardens don't grow overnight" and if you're from a small town you know this both figuratively and literally. You certainly know gardens don't grow overnight because you've worked in a garden or two. But you also know that to get to the place you want to be in life it takes work and effort. It doesn't just happen because you want it to. 11. How to be great at giving directions. If you're from a small town, you know that you will probably only meet a handful of people in your life who ACTUALLY know where your town is. And forget about the people who accidentally enter into your town because of google maps. You've gotten really good at giving them directions right back to the interstate. 12. How to be humble . My small town has definitely taught me how to be humble. It isn't always about you, and anyone who grows up in a small town knows that. Everyone gets their moment in the spotlight, and since there's so few of us, we're probably best friends with everyone so we are as excited when they get their moment of fame as we are when we get ours. 13. To be well-rounded. Going to a small town high school definitely made me well-rounded. There isn't enough kids in the school to fill up all the clubs and sports teams individually so be ready to be a part of them all. 14. How to be great at conflict resolution. In a small town, good luck holding a grudge. In a bigger city you can just avoid a person you don't like or who you've had problems with. But not in a small town. You better resolve the issue fast because you're bound to see them at least 5 times a week. 15. The beauty of getting outside and exploring. One of my favorite things about growing up in a rural area was being able to go outside and go exploring and not have to worry about being in danger. There is nothing more exciting then finding a new place somewhere in town or in the woods and just spending time there enjoying the natural beauty around you. 16. To be prepared for anything. You never know what may happen. If you get a flat tire, you better know how to change it yourself because you never know if you will be able to get ahold of someone else to come fix it. Mechanics might be too busy , or more than likely you won't even have enough cell service to call one. 17. That you don't always have to do it alone. It's okay to ask for help. One thing I realized when I moved away from my town for college, was how much my town has taught me that I could ask for help is I needed it. I got into a couple situations outside of my town where I couldn't find anyone to help me and found myself thinking, if I was in my town there would be tons of people ready to help me. And even though I couldn't find anyone to help, you better believe I wasn't afraid to ask. 18. How to be creative. When you're at least an hour away from normal forms of entertainment such as movie theaters and malls, you learn to get real creative in entertaining yourself. Whether it be a night looking at the stars in the bed of a pickup truck or having a movie marathon in a blanket fort at home, you know how to make your own good time. 19. To brush off gossip. It's all about knowing the person you are and not letting others influence your opinion of yourself. In small towns, there is plenty of gossip. But as long as you know who you really are, it will always blow over. Grateful Beyond Words: A Letter to My Inspiration I have never been so thankful to know you.. I can't say "thank you" enough to express how grateful I am for you coming into my life. You have made such a huge impact on my life. I would not be the person I am today without you and I know that you will keep inspiring me to become an even better version of myself. You have taught me that you don't always have to strong. You are allowed to break down as long as you pick yourself back up and keep moving forward. When life had you at your worst moments, you allowed your friends to be there for you and to help you. You let them in and they helped pick you up. Even in your darkest hour you showed so much strength. I know that you don't believe in yourself as much as you should but you are unbelievably strong and capable of anything you set your mind to. Your passion to make a difference in the world is unbelievable. You put your heart and soul into your endeavors and surpass any personal goal you could have set. Watching you do what you love and watching you make a difference in the lives of others is an incredible experience. The way your face lights up when you finally realize what you have accomplished is breathtaking and I hope that one day I can have just as much passion you have. SEE MORE: A Letter To My Best Friend On Her Birthday The love you have for your family is outstanding. Watching you interact with loved ones just makes me smile . You are so comfortable and you are yourself. I see the way you smile when you are around family and I wish I could see you smile like this everyday. You love with all your heart and this quality is something I wished I possessed. You inspire me to be the best version of myself. I look up to you. I feel that more people should strive to have the strength and passion that you exemplify in everyday life.You may be stubborn at points but when you really need help you let others in, which shows strength in itself. I have never been more proud to know someone and to call someone my role model. You have taught me so many things and I want to thank you. Thank you for inspiring me in life. Thank you for making me want to be a better person. Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do! Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.. Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle. This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens. Don't freak out This is a rule you should continue to follow no matter what you do in life, but is especially helpful in this situation. Email the professor Around this time, professors are getting flooded with requests from students wanting to get into full classes. This doesn't mean you shouldn't burden them with your email; it means they are expecting interested students to email them. Send a short, concise message telling them that you are interested in the class and ask if there would be any chance for you to get in. Attend the first class Often, the advice professors will give you when they reply to your email is to attend the first class. The first class isn't the most important class in terms of what will be taught. However, attending the first class means you are serious about taking the course and aren't going to give up on it. Keep attending class Every student is in the same position as you are. They registered for more classes than they want to take and are "shopping." For the first couple of weeks, you can drop or add classes as you please, which means that classes that were once full will have spaces. If you keep attending class and keep up with assignments, odds are that you will have priority. Professors give preference to people who need the class for a major and then from higher to lower class year (senior to freshman). Have a backup plan For two weeks, or until I find out whether I get into my waitlisted class, I will be attending more than the usual number of classes. This is so that if I don't get into my waitlisted class, I won't have a credit shortage and I won't have to fall back in my backup class. Chances are that enough people will drop the class, especially if it is very difficult like computer science, and you will have a chance. In popular classes like art and psychology, odds are you probably won't get in, so prepare for that. Remember that everything works out at the end Life is full of surprises. So what if you didn't get into the class you wanted? Your life obviously has something else in store for you. It's your job to make sure you make the best out of what you have. Trending Topics Songs About Being 17 Grey's Anatomy Quotes Vine Quotes 4 Leaf Clover Self Respect Top Creators 1. Brittany Morgan,   National Writer's Society 2. Radhi,   SUNY Stony Brook 3. Kristen Haddox , Penn State University 4. Jennifer Kustanovich , SUNY Stony Brook 5. Clare Regelbrugge , University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Trending Stories Nostalgic 2000s songs: 100 throwback hits that'll transport you to childhood, an apology letter to the ex i will always love, the ultimate birthday: unveiling the perfect day to celebrate, 19 things you can do when you turn 19 years old, 75 excuses to not go out, best of student life 9 essential bob's burgers episodes to kick off the new year, challah vs. easter bread: a delicious dilemma, top 10 reasons my school rocks, 70 of the most referenced movies ever, 7 new year clichés: break free, embrace change, subscribe to our newsletter, facebook comments. Disability Visibility Project "Creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture" Life is Too Short for Someone Else’s Shame “life is too short for someone else’s shame”: why i call myself a disabled writer, amanda leduc. From 2008 – 2010, I lived for a time in Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the jobs I had while there was working in administration for an organization that provided support services to disabled people. I had started to be more open about my own disability, cerebral palsy, by that point in my life, though I hadn’t yet written much about it. One day my manager took me aside and mentioned that she couldn’t wait for the essays of mine that would one day come into the world. “You’ll be known as a disabled writer,” she said. “And the insights that you have will be so valuable.” “I’ll be a writer with a disability,” I said, instantly.  She just shook her head and smiled. “It’s the same thing.” I disagreed with her, then. It took me years to understand why, and even more years to understand why I was wrong. These years later, I now work for a literary festival in Canada . In this as well as my own work as a disabled writer, I’ve often encountered other writers who will talk about their disabilities in private but refrain from calling themselves disabled in the public space—in much the same way as I did in that conversation with my manager all those years ago.  As festivals, as arts organizations, we have a responsibility to ensure accurate representation of the disability community, which comprises roughly 20% of the population. But it can be hard to reflect that statistic when people don’t disclose. What happens, then, when you as an organizer know that you’re showcasing disabled artists—but only in secret?  To be clear: I don’t want people to disclose their disabilities if they’re uncomfortable doing so. I also want to acknowledge that it is often unsafe for many people to disclose disability publicly—from employment discrimination through to social discrimination, being open about one’s disabilities can often lead to further complications.  Instead I want to ask: what kind of world makes this discomfort possible? And what is it about this world that we can seek to change? Part of the reason I was hesitant to call myself disabled was, for a long time, because of privilege. I am a white woman with mild cerebral palsy—I have a limp, and chronic pain, and all of this gets worse with fatigue. But I can also pass at times for someone who is able-bodied. I have a lot of non-disabled privilege even in spite of my disability, and for a long time I worried that claiming the word disabled for myself meant that I was taking space away from someone else who might deserve it more.  But what does this do, this assumption that there is only limited space for disability issues? It assumes that our concern for disability necessarily has limits—that there are some disabilities we’ll consider legitimate and others that we won’t. It also perpetuates the idea that disability is a niche interest—something that only impacts a few people with very specific conditions, when in fact disability is an incredibly wide umbrella. It covers conditions invisible and visible, mild and severe. It is a spectrum that touches almost everyone in some kind of way. Even if you live your life without a disability of some kind and are lucky enough to grow old, chances are you’ll encounter disability in some form as you age. In refraining from calling myself disabled, I was perpetuating the idea, however unconsciously, and even in spite of my good intentions, that only a few people “deserve” the disabled identity, and thus only a few people deserve the accommodations that are a necessary part of thriving. This perpetuates the ableism that continues to disenfranchise disabled people in the first place, and reinforces the idea that disability issues do not affect or impact non-disabled society—because they only impact a few.   But that conversation with my manager those years ago also took the shape it did because I worried, at the time, that putting my disability first would somehow make me less—because I saw my disability as less. I saw writing about disability as niche, as not as interesting as writing about other things—because I saw disability as a niche interest, a single bookshelf in the bookstore as opposed to something that is, in fact, a universal consideration. In the community, this is what we call internalized ableism— the ways in which the ableist views of the disabled body as less-than weave and wind themselves through the disabled person’s understanding of society. It took a few more years of growth and understanding of my own disability and needs—as well as the gentle guidance of my disabled peers and fellow disabled writers—before I realized that my hesitancy was complicity, and that a significant part of my journey toward disability advocacy rested in claiming the term disabled for myself.   It took yet a few more years of growth after that to understand that there is no hierarchy when it comes to disability—that we are all of us entitled to what we need in order to thrive in the world. As a physically disabled woman who also has non-disabled privilege and mobility, the space that I occupy is different from that of a disabled person who might use a wheelchair, or have invisible disabilities. Accordingly, the accommodations and assistive devices that I need will be different from the accommodations that others might require—but all of our needs should be met regardless. Occupying my own disabled body and navigating my own disability challenges does not take away from or overshadow the needs of others—we need to make space for them all.  What does this mean, then, in public spaces? It means that I put cerebral palsy in my Twitter bio; when I go to festivals and speak at events in person and online, I call myself a disabled writer. I do this because I know that even though I am perfectly capable of talking about other things when it comes to writing apart from disability—ask me about structure, and world-building, and what kind of research one might need to do when writing a strange centaur novel —the fact is that my disability has influenced everything I write. I am who I am because of my disability and how it’s shaped my life, and I want the world to know this.  In calling myself a disabled writer, I also want the world to know and recognize that many aspects of disability—though not all!—are caused by the built environment, and that environment is a reflection of certain choices and decisions. We have the technology and the infrastructure to ensure an accessible environment for all who need it—the barriers to this are social more often than not. Just look at the ways in which accommodations that have long been fought for by disabled people—such as working from home, grocery delivery, and flexibility with class schedules and assignments—became available almost overnight for the majority of the population in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.  So much of the world we live in is built on a “one-size-fits-all” approach, with the understanding that those who do not fit into this system must get left behind. But what happens when we say this isn’t good enough? What happens when we build a better world?  When I call myself disabled, and when I encourage those who are ready to claim the name for themselves—in much the same way that my fellow disabled writers once encouraged me—I am reaching for that world. The one where we all understand that there is no one-size-fits-all—that bodies come in different shapes and sizes, with varying levels of ability, and that it is our responsibility to meet all of these bodies in whatever ways we can. When I say that I am a disabled writer, I am saying that I do not think disabled is a bad word—that I can speak about disability in writing as well as a hundred other things. I am saying that disability has made me a better writer, because it keeps me alive to the ways in which the world treats those who are different, and reminds me of the ways in which I can use my words to fight for a world that is better than the one we have. And I am encouraging my fellow writers who might not yet be at that point to consider what it likewise might mean for them to claim the same. When I call myself disabled, I am saying that the disability community is wide and bright and beautiful, and welcoming of all, and that we become stronger with every person who joins us. I call myself disabled so that others with disabilities across a wide spectrum might one day feel comfortable doing the same.  Because life is, indeed, too short for someone else’s shame.  Amanda Leduc is a disabled Canadian writer and author of the non-fiction book Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space , as well as the novel The Miracles of Ordinary Men . Her new novel, The Centaur’s Wife , is forthcoming from Random House Canada in February 2021. She has cerebral palsy and lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where she serves as the Communications and Development Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity , Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories.  Website: https://amandaleduc.com/ Twitter: @AmandaLeduc Instagram: @amanda.leduc Guest Blog Posts , Uncategorized Ableism , Accessibility , coronavirus , Crip Lit , Disability identity , Disability Representation , Disabled writers , festivals , internalized ableism , Own Voices , Publishing , Systemic ableism Share this: Alice Wong View All Leave a reply cancel reply, discover more from disability visibility project. Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive. Type your email… Continue reading 247 COMMENTS Life Is Short Life is short. Live it now. And live it with all your strength and passion now. Don't keep it in reserve against a day you might not have. While the ember is still lit, fan it to flame. Be bold about it, even if your circumstances mean all you have is to love boldly and laugh boldy. Life is short, and for good reason Of course, many lives are too short in order to generate much or any meaning in this way, when taken too young, for example. There is not much to say by way of justification for this. Life is Short Ok, so life actually is short. Does it make any difference to know that? It has for me. It means arguments of the form "Life is too short for x" have great force. It's not just a figure of speech to say that life is too short for something. It's not just a synonym for annoying. The Shortness of Life: Seneca on Busyness and the Art of Living Wide Despite a steadily swelling human life expectancy, these concerns seem more urgent than ever — and yet they are hardly unique to our age. In fact, they go as far back as the record of human experience and endeavor. It is unsurprising, then, that the best treatment of the subject is also among the oldest: Roman philosopher Seneca's spectacular 2,000-year-old treatise On the Shortness of ... Life is Short. Recently I read Paul Graham's essay… Recently I read Paul Graham's essay, Life is Short, and was deeply inspired. He took on this seemingly clichéd topic very personally, and… Life Is Short, Make It More Meaningful Life is short and unpredictable, but it doesn't have to be meaningless. We all have the power to make our lives more meaningful, no matter how short they may be. On the Shortness of Life: Book Summary, Key Lessons, and Best Quotes Wisdom In his moral essay, On the Shortness of Life, Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and playwright, offers us an urgent reminder on the non-renewability of our most important resource: our time. It is a required reading for anyone who wishes to live to their full potential, and it is a manifesto on how to get back control of your life and live it to the fullest. Life Is Short. What Have You Done About It? The essence of life is about experiences — the things we see, taste, smell, touch and hear. It's not just about how long we live but also the quality of our existence. "Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better, says Simon Raven. We can either settle with less and be complacent in our comfort ... Life Is Too Short To Live Someone Else's Plans Life Is Too Short To Live Someone Else's Plans. 5 minutes. They say life is short, it passes in one breath and when we realize it, we are living more than the memories of what happens around us. And the truth is that more than fearing the transience of our existence, what really scares us are not our mistakes or our falls, or even the few times ... On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully." "They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn." "Life is long, if you know how to use it." "But life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear ... Life Is Short. That's the Point. Today's "life extension" movement includes venture capitalists like the tech billionaire Peter Thiel pouring money into anti-aging and life extension start-ups. (While the rumor that Mr ... Life is Short Life is what you make of it, and make the most that you can of it. Life is shorter than everyone thinks, and before you know it, it will be over, so enjoy it while you are still here! Life is short. So, do not hold grudges. Life is too short to not live life to the fullest. S0, Live Life, Love Life and make the most of it. Life Is Too Short Life is short. Why not spend it mired in regret? Why not spend your evenings sitting side by side at the dining-room table with your spouse, trying to determine whether your downstairs neighbors ... Telling Short, Memorable Stories From Your Life: 'My Secret Pepsi Plot If so, what would you need to do to shape it? What other small stories — or "evocative, particular moments" — from your life might make wonderful short essays? 25 Life Is Short Quotes That Motivate and Inspire Life is precious, and we only have one life to live. These life is short quotes are perfect for motivating us to take action. Life is Too Short… Your life is too short… to waste accumulating material possessions. Your life is too short… to be offended all the time. Your life is too short… to chase accolades. Your life is too short… to compare it to others. Your life is too short… to waste watching 6 hours of television/day. Your life is too short… to pursue riches. Life Is Too Short Life is way too short to wait for something to happen. You should never wait for the world to be ready, instead, the world should be ready for you. Our clocks are ticking, so we need to get out there and live like there is no tomorrow, like today was your last day on earth, so make sure you always make the moments in your life count when they ... Life Is... Too Short T. Bohanon - Producer; Al Eaton - Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Mixing; Victor Hall - Photography; Helen Kim - Vocals (background) Mr. Z - Clothing/Wardrobe; Todd Shaw ... 11 Simple Reminders That Life is Too Short Life is indeed too short to not focus on the present moment and live it the best way we can. Here are some reasons why life is too short. Life is Too Short for Someone Else's Shame I call myself disabled so that others with disabilities across a wide spectrum might one day feel comfortable doing the same. Because life is, indeed, too short for someone else's shame. Life is too short to be unhappy at work This could be a defining moment for you. I was that person once, and I didn't start off my job like that at all. My job resonated with a deep-seated desire to be part of something greater than just earning money - making an impact in communities through philanthropic work. One day, I found myself sad, diagnosed with a chronic condition, on ... Life is indeed, too short In any young person's life this is a major milestone; in Ethans life this is just as major but it will be celebrated very differently than the majority of 18 year olds. How to Write a Short Essay, With Examples Sometimes an assignment or test calls for a short essay. Learn how to write a short essay in 5 steps, with examples of effective essays. essay homework paper phd project resume review study thesis