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Live your life to the full! By MARY JANE HOLT
Get a piece of paper and a pen. Do it now. Before you read another word, get the paper and pen and hold on to them for a minute. I was preparing last week for a speaking engagement and came up with an almost foolproof (though not original) idea to encourage folks to do something positive with their lives. I had been invited to speak to a group of seniors and it had been suggested that I talk about the new year, new opportunities, and what this group of seniors could do to make their lives count more in the coming months. I was to suggest ways they could stay active and busy and more productive. I thought about it and decided no good psychiatrist, psychologist, pastor or counselor of any merit would really take it upon himself or herself to know and tell us how to live our lives. In fact, any advisor worth his or her salt (or dime) will lead us toward the realization that there are certain things we might want to do. Maybe even should do. Perhaps must do. But we have to think of those things. And we have to do them. Now, I plan my life as though I will live forever, but I live my life as though I will die at any moment. I am very blessed in that I learned the importance of doing that at an early age. For instance, my grandchildren were visiting and wanted me by their side all day on Saturday. On the sofa watching cartoons. In the floor cutting and pasting. Outside walking and climbing on the rocks and trekking through the woods. I can't keep up with an 8-year-old and 4-year-old, but I gave it my best shot. Why? Because the day will come when they will not want to be with me. Or when I will not be around for them to share such experiences. The kids left around 11 p.m. and I went to bed. Exhausted. In fact, I did not clean up my kitchen from Saturday lunch and dinner until late Sunday afternoon. What if somebody had dropped by and found my mess? Who cares? Not me. Not anymore. I was too busy living to wash dishes, clean the kitchen, and sweep the floor. I'm convinced that no wise person would tell you what to do, or how to do it, to make your life count for something. They might tell you that every year offers you the opportunity to start over. As does every month. Every day. Actually, every breath offers us the opportunity to begin again. So now that I have you thinking about "beginning again." About a new year. New opportunities. New ways to be uniquely you. New ways to show you care for a neighbor, an old friend, a new friend. New ways to reconnect with your family. Now that you are thinking like that I want you to do this assignment. At the top of the blank page in front of you write your name, age and today's date. Then write your obituary. Go ahead and guess how old you will be when you die and what the date will be. List your survivors. Then write down how you will be remembered and by whom. When you have finished your obit, describe your funeral. List the song/s you would like to have sung and why. Then write down how you will be remembered by your pastor and why. Next, describe how your family will remember you and why. Now pick a close friend and do the same thing. THEN write down how your worst enemy will remember you and why. Last, and I hope you will not have to do this, but if you feel that you must, then write "I am afraid I will not be remembered because _______________________ ." Just let your thoughts take you where they will. Be honest. Be as sincere as you know how to be. I figure by the time you get to the end of the page/s, you will be far more sincere than when you started writing. Now, clip this column. Save it and repeat this exercise a year from now. In fact, I highly recommend doing it every year. There's no telling what direction your life might take, what accomplishments will someday be called yours, what child's life will be forever blessed because of you, once you realize today is really all you've got and start living it well! Got thoughts about this exercise, or want to share your assignment with me? Leave a message at 770-460-5000, write to me at PO Box 246, Gay, Ga. 30218, or send an e-mail to mjhcolumn@aol.com.
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