If You Had One Day Left To Live

It is almost a cliche to ask people what they would do if they knew they only had one day left. I can think of more than one time in school in which one of my instructors used this as an exercise.

Pretend you only have one day left to live. Write a story about what you do etc.

I used to hate that kind of stuff. Ok, maybe hate is too strong a word, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it is because when I was younger I believed in the invincibility of youth. Maybe that is why I couldn’t or didn’t take it seriously.

The thing is that I do take it seriously now. I have buried more than one friend. I have seen death come in various forms, cancer, airplane, car accidents, terrorism and war. It is a bitter education that I would have liked to avoid, but such is life.

So now I ask myself the question, if I knew that I only had one day left to live, what would I do? The answer is hard. I am not sure. I am torn. It is an internal struggle. The obvious answer is that I’d like to spend time with the people I love.

But that is not all. I think that I’d need to be outside. I’d want to go sit on a beach and listen to the roar of the ocean. I’d want to scale a mountain and look out on the valley below. I’d need to travel to the desert and look out on a vast expanse of sand. The end of Point Break comes to mind. ignore the bad acting and look at those waves.

One day left to live- what have I learned? What do I leave behind? What kind of legacy do I leave for my children. I ask myself all of these questions and so many more.

The more than I consider this, the more that I realize that I haven’t nearly enough time. My life is going to be way too short to do everything that I need to do. I’ll do my best to get it done. I’ll try so very hard and I’ll keep fighting, but sooner or later that guy with the scythe and I will have to meet in person.

• Saved: Life and Death