Does this get you thinking: Today is the Day that Tomorrow was Yesterday? D o you live your life like Tomorrow Never Comes? If you don’t make the best of today, what else is left?
It’s Time to Live a Life of Harmony
In addition to living life today and not waiting for the promises of tomorrow, I’m kicking the concept of a “balanced life” to the curb.
Instead, I’m looking for a Life of Harmony, which is a blend of two key principles:
- A blend of work, home, friends and community, and
- A commitment to live for today, not for the tomorrow that never comes.
As you prepare for your Best Year Ever in 2018, both of these principles must be present to achieve a Life of Harmony.
Principle 1: The Concept of a Balanced Life is Over
The concept of a balanced life is kaput because it’s based on the outdated assumption that there is a bright line between home and work.
But there really isn’t, is there?
With today’s technology … with both spouses working and sharing home and parenting duties … the line between work and home is fuzzy at best:
- You have the capability to get work done when and where you want,
- You don’t want to miss your kids’ soccer games or piano recitals,
- You may prefer to put your kids to bed and work afterward, and
- You want a life where all of your interests and needs are in “harmony”.
Once you embrace that concept, you can join me and kick that *balanced life* concept out the door.
Principle 2: Life is Short and Unpredictable
When death strikes close to home, this lesson rears its ugly head yet again.
Over the Christmas holidays several years ago, we lost my wife’s only and younger brother to a sudden and expected infection that even the greatest doctors at UCSF could not overcome.
Reflecting on that 19 day ordeal from his admission to the ICU until his Celebration of Life service, is a powerful lesson for all of us as we confront our mortality.
None of us had any idea this day was coming. He was relatively young at 65, healthy throughout his life and was planning to retire at the first of the year … with many plans that he never realized.
The acclaimed author, Sidney Sheldon, once wrote a book entitled, Tomorrow Never Comes.
It summarizes what we already know:
What was tomorrow only yesterday is now TODAY.
[pullquote]And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. – ~Abraham Lincoln[/pullquote]
Don’t Live For Tomorrow
From an early age, we’ve learned retirement is something that starts sometime after today.
It was typically earmarked for somewhere around age 65, younger if you’re lucky, today quite a bit longer.
So, we tend to put off many things until we retire… a special vacation … a chance to more actively pursue our passions … a chance to sleep in and let the day unfold without any pressure to be somewhere at an appointed time.
What Else Am I Supposed To Do?
- I have to be at work.
- I have a family to feed, a house to maintain.
- I have no time for play.
- I’ll do that when I retire.
Yet, we realize we may have no time at all;
We don’t pick the day we arrive here, and
We certainly don’t pick the day we leave this life for a different journey.
So, why the confidence we’ll get to do all the things we love when we retire?
[pullquote]Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes[/pullquote]
Live Like You Were Dying
Now is the time to find a way to achieve a Life of Harmony so you don’t have to wait for the tomorrow that may never come.
That’s the title of a hit song by country singer, Tim McGraw.
He said I was in my early 40’s, With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days, lookin’ at the x-rays,
Talkin’ ‘bout the options and talkin’ ’bout sweet time.
Asked him when it sank in, that this might really be the real end.
How’s it hit ya, when you get that kind of news. Man what ya do. And he says,
I went sky divin‘, I went rocky mountain climbin’,
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper, And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I’ve been denying,
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin’.
Create a Life of Harmony. Enjoy Every Day.
You can do this.
You may not get another chance!
Question: What will you do TODAY to live the life you want to lead?
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