What will matter to you, when you die…

What will matter to you when you are dying?

It seems like a difficult, mysterious question but, perhaps it is not. While not every person thinks the same while vibrant and viable, it seems that when your number is up, people of all races and religious beliefs have a lot in common as their personal end draws near.

It turns out, once a person truly knows that the jig is up, the final minutes for most of us are peaceful and reflective. Three overwhelming thoughts tend to dominate those who are taking their final breaths:

1. There is a need for forgiveness, for reconciliation for the things and events that a person may regret.
2. There is a need for remembrance.
3. There is a need to know that one’s life had meaning.

Am I making this stuff up?

No, not at all. Watch this succinct, powerful video from Matthew O’Reilly, an EMS professional that has witnessed the last breaths of many critically injured people:

So, here is my question to you:

Why not live your live now – all your life in fact – with:

• true quality,
• forgiving and being forgiven,
• avoiding as many situations as possible that could cause harm and cause regret,
• accomplishing meaningful goals,
• impacting people’s lives in meaningful ways, and
• doing what it takes to take comfort in having a life that was indeed meaningful?

When you know what will matter to you in the end, it makes it easier to make the right decisions and put in your best effort, today.

I.M. Optimism Man

 

PS. When dying, no one wishes for more money, more time at work, more shiny cars, more bigger and bigger houses, more parties, more martinis, more time watching others (TV, Facebook, sports, celebrity news, you name it) instead of living. But we knew that already, didn’t we? Why do we spend some much of our lives on the less-than-meaningful agenda?