The French short story writer Guy de Maupassant once wrote, “You’ve never lived until you’ve almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a flavor the protected shall never know”.
Time and again, that phrase has been validated. In simple terms, it means that one must fully understand that death is always a mere millisecond away, every day.
Only once the full import of that phrase is understood and digested, then can one truly appreciate life.
West and East rarely meet, but in this one case, they have, because it was Confucius who also said this: “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
I am now in my fifties. Many around me have already passed on. Many prematurely. Yet I see so many people around me who postpone, or worse still, discard what were once their dreams, hopes and passions.
They do this in favor of what they perceive as a stable existence, favoring comfort, the familiar and conservative. They may exist. They may breathe. But do they really live?
I am not sure. Many say they do but they walk around with a frown on their face.
Anyway, I remain a student of this thing we call Life.
I have experienced the all too-rapid passage of time. Many times, I do not like to look at the mirror because I don’t recognise the person staring back. So old!
So. My panacea.
Treat each day like it could be my last. Understand that my goal in life is to die with no regrets.
And so, these are my resolutions. They have been my mantra since I left Salary Land in 2008.
In no order of importance: Reject fear. Dance naked. Laugh. Live simply. Want for nothing. Move. See the beauty, not the bleak.
There are many more but I will leave them for another day.
Have a good day all. Carpe Dieme.
