Imagine that you’re about to die … right now.
Did You Love?
The plans you had for tomorrow or next week, or next month? Not going to happen. Your position at work? Tomorrow it will be open – to be filled by some one else. That friend you haven’t seen in a few months? They won’t get to see you again. Your spouse? They will have to muddle through somehow. Your kids? Will have to live without their dad or mom. Did you express love to these people the way you wanted?
Did You Matter?
As you think about the things in your calendar for this month, you realize that most of it just doesn’t matter. The TV shows you watched? You’ll be dead, so it doesn’t matter what you watched. All the dissatisfaction you had in life? It’s all meaningless. The car you just bought? Suddenly, it’s unexciting. The house you worked so hard to get? It’s not impressive. That trip to the Bahamas you wanted to take? It’s insignificant.
This is it. This is the end. What will people say your life was about? Will people’s comments about you be filled with impactful moments, or will they at best be able to share some funny anecdotes?
You can’t fake this one. Did your life really matter?
Evaluation
Ok, back to reality.
How did you rate yourself?
When I was forced through this exercise, I wasn’t exactly happy with my personal evaluation. I had done quite a few things that many would commend. Yet, it felt like I had done the minimum. I had friends, but with many of them, the relationship was too shallow to really make a lasting impact. I had spent too many of my days and hours playing, and not enough time engaged in the world listening, sharing, encouraging, and lifting up.
From my heart attack experience, I’ve learned that in the end there are only two things that really matter:
- Knowing where you stand with God
- Knowing that you when you leave this earth, people will be better because of you.
Everything else is temporary and in the end meaningless.
Good News
The good news that you still have time. You can change the direction of your life. You get a “do over.”
Change isn’t instantaneous, but you can start the process today. As Zig Ziglar says, you need to stop being a wandering generality and become a meaningful specific. The more intentional you get with your life, the more significance you can have in the world.
One way to begin is with your finances. You can start by writing down where you want all of your income to go next month (and do this every month). When you get intentional and proactive with your money, you will eventually have money available to help you impact the world.
So, what about you? Was this exercise helpful? How do you think we can improve it?
