life's short

I know I’m stating the obvious in today’s title, but I just read a friend of mine’s beautiful post from last week in memory of his mother, and it served as yet another reminder of how short life is–or maybe how fast it can pass by.

As I sat with the post and thought about all of the memories he described, I thought about my own with my parents and finally thought about what I hope will be the types of memories my boys have of me.

I then began to think about how many of us spend so much of the short time we have doing things we don’t enjoy–I’m not talking about cutting the grass, cleaning the house, or other little responsibilities that we have (or maybe I am?!?).

I’m talking about not living out, or at least pursuing, dreams.

I’m talking about continuing to live a life that doesn’t excite us because it’s the easy thing to do.

I’m talking about keeping people around us that do not align with where we are going because they’ve always been a part of our lives.

I’m talking about not prioritizing the activities that help us feel best.

I’m talking about not living a life that is authentic to who we are.

This has been normalized and has become widely accepted by society.

Bronnie Ware famously wrote about the five regrets of the dying, and they all are a result of not living a life we truly want to live and feel called to live:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

Living your authentic life does not mean you live a perfect life–there will certainly be disappointments, “failures,” and aspects that you don’t love. But because you are doing so many things you do love and living aligned with your authentic Self, those “non-ideal” areas won’t seem as bad.

As you know, we don’t know how much time we have left in this life, which is why it’s so important to begin moving toward your authentic life and working to minimize the regrets you would have if you continue down the path you currently are on.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC