Nothing adds value like a shortage. Consider the price people were willing to pay for toilet paper at the onset of the pandemic. Conversely, an inexhaustible supply could dramatically reduce its value. Six months ago, Tim McGraw’s song, Live Like You Were Dying, might give me pause, but within minutes, I was back at it…working and living like I had a limitless number of days ahead.
Not so. Today, his lyric takes on a whole new sense of timeliness. From my perspective, McGraw’s lyric nails it “…when it sank in, that this might really be the real end…I loved deeper…I spoke sweeter…and I gave forgiveness I’d been denyin’… and he said some day I hope you get the chance … to live like you were dyin’.”
Since receiving my diagnosis and knowing my days truly are in short supply, the value I place on them, down to each minute, has radically increased. My vision improved dramatically. I now see the good and the beauty that surrounds me…and always had. From sunrise to sunset, God’s natural beauty is more apparent than ever. The sky is bluer and the trees greener. I am much more selective on how I spend my time and, for the first time ever, look forward to wasting time.
Lori would attest to the fact that I could rarely, if ever relax. On many occasions, our crazy-busy world led me to feel guilty if I were not being productive every moment. That included evenings, weekends, and even vacations.
Now it is abundantly clear that the time I “waste” with God is the most valuable way for me to spend my time. In doing so, I often contemplate my abundant blessings while gaining a deep, profound, and almost indescribable feeling of peace and love. It is here, in a contemplative state, that I feel a well of gratitude for the love of my family and friends. And, it is here, in the silence, that I sense God’s presence.
Living in the moment … each and every moment … is vital. That’s what you do when you Live Like You Were Dying.
