Recently I've been working on a personal mission statement. In layman's terms, it is basically a statement of how you are going to live your life; a moral and emotional compass to help one navigate through life's twists and turns. In doing my research, I thought I'd look at some examples of other people's statements and maybe I could glean some insight as to just how my statement might stack up against those who have gone down this path before me.
So, wouldn't you know it, the very first one I read starts out, "I want to live each day as though it were my last..." Now after reading that I couldn't go any further. I had to digest what the person who wrote it was trying to convey. After several minutes I came to this conclusion...
I could not include those words in my statement, that whole thought process is too big for me to comprehend. I mean, come on, who can live like that? The pressure would be too much. For a guy like me, I might just goof off at work all day. If I am living like today was my last day, I probably wouldn't do any work. Heck, I might just go shoot all my enemies. If I had one day to live, I just might go settle all the scores that I've been waiting for God to take care of. Or maybe, I would go and charge a bunch of stuff on my unsecured credit cards! If I were living with the last day on earth mentality why would I care if I ran up a bunch of credit card debt? So, living like it is my last day on earth might not be so bad. It would be a lot of fun goofing off, living big on credit, and playing the role of Dirty Harry.
Actually, I know that I wouldn't do any of those things, even though I would like to settle some scores. Living each day as though it were my last would be too much for me. I am not even sure what I'd do if I had one day to live. I'd probably pull down my pants and slide on the ice. See, there I go again. I just can't get my head around the concept.
For me, there are a few things I try to do every day anyway. Each day, I try to walk with God. I spend time alone with Him and then I try to be aware of His presence in my life throughout the day. I try my best to love my wife more today than I did yesterday. I love my children and their families with reckless abandon. I try to laugh everyday. I have come to believe that laughter is the best medicine. Looking at my list I think maybe I have a good start to my personal mission statement; but I don't think I'll be adding any of that last day of my life stuff.
Be well.
Bill
