I lost two of my four brothers by the time I was 24 years old.
I’ve sat beside both my mother and my grandmother as they drew their last breaths. One minute they were alive, the next they were dead.
As a firefighter I’ve seen and worked on hundreds of dead people. Some went peacefully into that good night, and others went kicking and screaming.
Each one of those deaths was a tragedy, but – in a weird kind of way – also a precious gift. To me they were each a human memento mori, an indisputable reminder that life is short and the number of your days uncertain.
Everybody knows this at some level, but it helps to be reminded of it. Life is short so USE YOUR TIME!
Some people use their evenings and weekends to numb their boredom with drugs, alcohol and Netflix.
But these times that they’re filling up with useless activities are actually OPPORTUNITIES! Use those hours to learn a new skill. Study a new subject. Work on your master plan. Plan your how to improve your life and then execute it relentlessly.
Let’s say you hate your life right now. Well, there are 168 hours in a week. Let’s assume you sleep for 56 hours in a week and work for another 40 hours. That leaves 72 hours – almost the time for TWO full time jobs – you can use to make your escape plan and execute on it, but only if you cut out the stupid shit.
Have a mission, leave a legacy, and make a dent in the universe!
Here’s the rant from my Instagram that inspired this post.