Life is too short and we never know when the final chapter of our lives will come to a close. Some of us are fortunate to have some advanced warning that our days are numbered while others depart completely unexpected. If you find yourself in the first group, there is a silver lining to that cloud.
There’s a song by Tim McGraw called “Live Like You Were Dying.” It’s about a guy with a friend who finds out his days are numbered and chooses to use it as an opportunity to really live. Rather than sulk and spend his remaining days depressed, the man in this song pushes life to its limit. As the chorus begins “I went sky diving. I went Rocky Mountain climbing. I spent 2.7 seconds, on a bull named Fu Man Chu.” Most of us would never consider doing such activities out of fear of getting hurt, getting permanently disabled or even dying. Of course, when you’ve been given only weeks or months to live, these consequences seem like less of a concern.