Life
Today I Realized I’m Going To Die
I’ve been feeling low on energy lately.
I went to the doctor and he sent me off for a blood test. The results came back.
Apparently, according to my doctor, the results couldn’t have been more perfect.
Eight weeks passed and something still felt off. Having had a health scare before where the surgeon found a lump the size of a golf ball in my guts, I don’t take risks when it comes to my health anymore. No more smoking, drinking, or crap food. Life is too important.
Back to my story. So at my second doctor’s appointment, I got asked a strange question:
“Tim I’m all out of ideas. Do you know what might be causing your low energy?”
Jesus now I’m supposed to play the role of the doctor. I couldn’t help but wonder why I was paying for the doctors time although I blocked that out of my head.
It will come as no surprise that I also couldn’t figure out the issue either. Then my doctor said to me:
“Let’s check your blood pressure again even though I checked it last time.”
He checked my blood pressure again and that’s when things got real. Apparently, my blood pressure was much lower than when he checked eight weeks prior. Having no clue why the doc sent me to have a heart scan.
The results of the heart scan are still pending. This whole episode got me thinking.
I’m going to die and so are you
Writing that headline gave me chills but it’s true amigo. Whether it’s this medical issue with the blood pressure thing or something else; we’re all going to die.
That’s what I learned from my second health scare. We think we are so damn smart and we know we are going to die. The truth is we know we are going to die but subconsciously tell ourselves it’s going to happen sometime in the very distant future.
As I saw today, death could be brewing at any moment. The grim reaper could come and take you without notice.
You may not get a second shot
This whole health scare has shown me again that I may not get a second shot. This could be the last blog post I ever write. Tonight could be the last beautiful woman I ever kiss.
So given that we don’t know when our time will come, I believe we have to treat every moment like it’s our last shot. I write every blog post as if it’s my last.
Death is why speed matters
The uncertainty of death is what makes me want to act quickly. I don’t hesitate to do anything. If I feel something, want something, or believe something then I act right now. Not tomorrow, not next year, not when the time is right: right bloody now!
That’s what many of you are missing. You think you’ve got all the time in the world but you don’t.
“The whole notion of death doesn’t have to be a big fat, Debbie Downer. You can treat the concept of death as the excuse that you fall back on when you procrastinate”
If you hate your job, then quit today.
If you want to inspire people, then do it today.
If you love someone, then don’t wait to tell him or her.
Mathematical Equation: UNDERSTANDING DEATH x TIME = Legacy
The moment it hit me that death is really going to happen, I changed the way I thought about time. Now all of my time is used to create a legacy. Death is a certainty, so there’s no time like now to create your legacy.
Legacy, to me, is the thing that will see me live on after my physical form is gone. This whole self-improvement movement combined with content creation is what I’m using to create my legacy. For you, the process could be different.
I suppose what I want you to get from this blog post is that not only are you going to die, but I want you to do something that matters. I want you to come to the same realization I have and create a whopping big legacy.
I used to be very naïve and think that I would never have children of my own. I thought to myself “Hey I’m a big shot and I need all the time in the world to go out and be successful!”
This whole way of thinking was BS. Creating a legacy is success. Going beyond yourself and having kids or serving others rather than your own selfish desires is success.
“Being the best version of you and finding a meaning for your life is the goal that matters”
The question I asked myself…..
To check in and see how I was going on this idea of death, I asked myself a question: “What if I knew I was going to die in the next four weeks? How would I feel?
If I had of asked these two question five years ago, I would have said “Freaking horrible!”
Now I have a different answer to these two questions. Now I would say that while I would be disappointed that the journey has come to an end, I’m proud of who I’ve become. I’m proud of my legacy.
It’s this answer that makes me so proud and has been the best learning experience from this recent health scare. It’s put death in perspective for me and it’s made me figure out the answers to life’s greatest questions.
What action could you take to build a legacy?
Are you proud of who you’re becoming?
If not, why, and what are you going to do about it?
A new way to feel about death
Rather than death being this horrible thing that I never want to experience, it’s now my motivation. It gives me optimism. It tells me if I’m on the right path.
It stops me from being the rude, selfish, spoilt brat I used to be who wasn’t grateful for anything that this world had given me including life itself. That’s how many people live. That’s not how you should live.
You’re going to die and it may not be that far away.
I’d tell you from my experience and health scare to fall in love with that fact.