Day TWO! by Jason Zandri

As part of my involvement in the Twelve Giveaways of Christmas Blog Tour I am doing a couple of things. 

I am, of course, posting my own post and promoting all the others and I am also doing a Rafflecopter giveaway. That is what this post is. 

Each day, I am going to kick off with this same summary information (that you've just read) and then I am going to cross post the links to the blogs on the tour. 

I am going to ask each of the readers to my blog and everyone I hit across my social networks, to follow the links to the other blog posts. Catch the writings and the spirit of the season. 

For each post of mine (including this one) I am going to offer one part of the "10 Painfully Obvious Truths Everyone Forgets Too Soon" posting (Credits: by Marc Chernoff, marcandangel) and my own thoughts on it. 

Today's is:

1. The average human life is relatively short. 

We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It’s like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind, and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is, and so you find yourself off balance for a moment, before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is. 

LIVE your life TODAY! Don’t ignore death, but don’t be afraid of it either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take action. Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you’re still alive. Be bold. Be courageous. Be scared to death, and then take the next step anyway. 

A number of things come to mind when I read this, but I suppose it's the simple thought of "plan your life like you might live forever but live it as if it might end tomorrow." 

Yes, you want to make sure to take the time to save for a house, a vacation, retirement, and so forth, but no one ever lay on their deathbed saying "damn, I really wish I could have put in 100 more hours at work." 

* Take the vacation. 
* Go for a walk. 
* Buy an ice cream cone for yourself. 
* Step outside on a sunny day; soak in the rays. 
* Step outside into the rainstorm; let the water wash over you. 
* Grab an extra hour of sleep. 
* Call a loved one and just BS on the phone. 
* Go over and see them. 
* Buy a bag of dog food and bring it to the animal shelter. 
* Clear out the canned goods that are about to expire at home and donate them to a food pantry for the less fortunate. 
* Sing or dance like nobody is watching / listening. 
* If there are people around, do it anyway. 
* Play with your kids / grandkids. 
* If they are older, take them to lunch (or that ice cream cone). 
* Forgive someone for their trespass; you do not have to forget what occurred, but perhaps it's time to let part of it go. 
* Ask for forgiveness for a trespass of your own; if you are not forgiven by them, at least forgive yourself. 

I will close my thoughts by looping back on what I said prior - "plan your life like you might live forever but live it as if it might end tomorrow." 

You want to do whatever you can that is timely and practical as far as working and savings so that you can have the best chance to have the same kind of life in your final years as you experienced your working adult life. 

With that I emphasize two additional 'moderation' thoughts: 

Do something 'small' tomorrow for yourself, in case it does in fact end up being your last day. 

You are never going to see an armored car follow a hearse; find a balance in what you are putting off for 'down the road' and what you could do, streamlined, next weekend.