There is a book called ‘Sum’ by David Eagleman. In it, each chapter describes a version of what the afterlife might be like. Apologies to David for badly paraphrasing, but Chapter 1 suggests we relive our lives, but in sequence….. x years sleeping, x years showering, x years sitting in traffic etc etc….ending with 10 minutes of pure joy.
It slightly blew my mind.
We waste so much time doing totally mundane crap. How many years might we have spent watching adventures on the TV instead of having our own?
We will never get to live this day again. We have an arrogance as humans that we have all the time in the world. I lost count of the patients I cared for during my nursing career who had waited to retire to enjoy their lives only to discover that fate had other plans. They urged me to live my life well and I have tried my best to do them proud. I now find myself living with a degenerative condition and feel I need to pass on their (and now my wisdom).
If you can:
Travel and explore
Don’t gossip
Say yes to new experiences
Be kind to yourself and others
Eat well and mindfully
Volunteer (do something for nothing)
Ask questions and listen to the answers
Enjoy all the bits of your body that work.
Exercise.
Fuck up. Forgive yourself. Repeat.
Forgive
Sometimes we have few choices about our lives, but we can always choose our attitude.
Today I'm choosing gratitude.
