“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”
Maybe I think too much........but maybe I don't. I have thought about these 'end-of-life' moments and I contemplate what I would think if this very moment was my last. If I had no 'do-over' opportunities, but rather had to take my entire life up until this moment to review before it was all over, would I be happy and proud of what I saw......or would I have regrets?
I am a firm believer in living a 'no-regrets' existence, but that doesn't mean that I have mastered that art. I grew up in a home where most of the focus was on the future - saving money for the future, not using/enjoying the living room in order to 'preserve' it for company coming over, going to Grandma's house and not being able to sit on her couch unless plastic was on it, not seeing my Mom's china dishes used except for Thanksgiving dinner, etc. I never really saw a lot of spontaneous or impulsive decisions made in our home. This could be construed as good or bad, depending on your opinion of "quality of life." I feel that the way I was raised taught me to make responsible decisions, prepare for a stable future, etc. - all good things and I am very grateful for that upbringing.
The problem comes in when I have these 'your whole life flashing before your eyes' thoughts. My goal is to not have any regrets (or to have them be small and minimal) and I find that most of my regrets are things that I didn't do (either out of fear, doubt, on the advice of other people) rather than regretting things that I DID do. That is SAD to me!
I want to take every opportunity that is given to me - and the key to that is recognizing those opportunities when they are right in front of your face! Sometimes we turn down opportunities and sometimes we don't even know that an opportunity is standing there waiting to be acted upon! In the last few years, I have tried to be extra vigilant about recognizing opportunities when they present themselves and acting on the ones that I feel I would enjoy or learn something from.
That's not to say that we should take ALL opportunities that are presented to us. I feel that discernment is something that we all should be working to master. I know that my 'gut' tells me when things are right or wrong and I try to trust that instinct - it's usually dead-on (and I truly feel that that is God telling me what I should do)! Trouble seems to come when we go against our gut feeling in order to satisfy other people, to do the 'popular' thing, to keep up with the Joneses, etc.
Here's to living a life we will be proud of during that last moment in this world!
I am a firm believer in living a 'no-regrets' existence, but that doesn't mean that I have mastered that art. I grew up in a home where most of the focus was on the future - saving money for the future, not using/enjoying the living room in order to 'preserve' it for company coming over, going to Grandma's house and not being able to sit on her couch unless plastic was on it, not seeing my Mom's china dishes used except for Thanksgiving dinner, etc. I never really saw a lot of spontaneous or impulsive decisions made in our home. This could be construed as good or bad, depending on your opinion of "quality of life." I feel that the way I was raised taught me to make responsible decisions, prepare for a stable future, etc. - all good things and I am very grateful for that upbringing.The problem comes in when I have these 'your whole life flashing before your eyes' thoughts. My goal is to not have any regrets (or to have them be small and minimal) and I find that most of my regrets are things that I didn't do (either out of fear, doubt, on the advice of other people) rather than regretting things that I DID do. That is SAD to me!
I want to take every opportunity that is given to me - and the key to that is recognizing those opportunities when they are right in front of your face! Sometimes we turn down opportunities and sometimes we don't even know that an opportunity is standing there waiting to be acted upon! In the last few years, I have tried to be extra vigilant about recognizing opportunities when they present themselves and acting on the ones that I feel I would enjoy or learn something from. 
That's not to say that we should take ALL opportunities that are presented to us. I feel that discernment is something that we all should be working to master. I know that my 'gut' tells me when things are right or wrong and I try to trust that instinct - it's usually dead-on (and I truly feel that that is God telling me what I should do)! Trouble seems to come when we go against our gut feeling in order to satisfy other people, to do the 'popular' thing, to keep up with the Joneses, etc.
Here's to living a life we will be proud of during that last moment in this world!
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