Love Life! This is our theme for August, and perhaps the most important one yet.
To love something we must treasure it. To really love life requires an appreciation of life itself. And when you really begin to appreciate your life you become increasingly aware how fragile and short it is in the grand scheme of things. The importance of life has been exaggerated by the news that come Christmas I am going to become a Dad!
I mentioned last week that I believe we get one shot at life and I was going to make damn sure I was going to live my life to its maximum. What I forgot to mention was that I am also very keen to live a very long and healthy life – but aren’t we all? This has never been more true than now, with a baby on the way.
I find it strange that at a time in my life when I live a much healthier existence than before (especially compared to my 20s!) I am more concerned about my health and think more about my own mortality. It’s a little ironic that the prospect of a new little life makes you contemplate the extent of your own.
I am definitely the happiest I have ever been (– he says writing this blog sat on the beach!) But I am acutely aware of how quickly life can turn round and smack you in the face, and how important it is to enjoy the special times. But we are not in control of our happiness as it is influenced by the other people in our lives.
If like me your family and friends are one of the most important things to you, it can sometimes feel like you actually have only a limited amount of control over your life, because all of them lead their own lives in their own way, in varying degrees of health. I guess we have to accept that loving life means loving it warts and all!
My current philosophical frame of mind combined with the prospect of becoming a father frightens me a little. I want to be here to help protect, nurture, raise and watch my children grow, but who knows what the future holds? All I can do is live my life to the fullest every day.
This reminds me of a very thought provoking and powerful book I read a couple of years ago – ‘The Last Lecture’ by Randy Pausch. The synopsis below is taken from goodreads.com
“A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave–“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”–wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.”
When I started the book I could not put it down. Being a parent was a distant thought at the time but the questions raised within the book made me contemplate what I would do in a similar position.
To compartmentalise all of your life’s experiences into one clear lesson and message of guidance must have been so difficult for Randy Pausch, for so many reasons. Your dreams for their childhood, your support for the tough character-building moments, celebrating achievements, and watching them build their own lives, find partners and maybe even have children themselves. I found it heartbreaking, but more importantly also courageous and inspiring. Of course the vast majority of us can impart our words of wisdom and secrets of life snippets at a time, but to encapsulate it in a single speech is a huge thing to do.
For me although Randy Pausch was dying his messages were about living. Living life to it’s maximum and enjoying our time here. Importantly I now see how sharing our time here enriches it ten fold.
So now I want to ask you:
– If you have a single message of advice for your loved ones, what would it be? (Please share it in the comments below – I’d be very interested to hear it)
– Are you listening to your own advice?!
GIVEAWAY!
All this week we have been running giveaways to celebrate the launch of our new site. Here is our fourth and final giveaway…
Today’s giveaway PRIZE: A bundle of adventure and life inspiration to help you do what you love
The bundle includes some of Beth’s favourite books:
- A copy of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig [This is one of my favourite books ever, and one of the few books I have read over and over. It is about a guy and his son motorcycling across America, thinking deeply about life and philosophy along the way. Just brilliant.]
- A copy of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch [This moving and powerful book is about the last lecture given by an American university professor with terminal cancer. It will remind you of what is really important in life, and might just make you reassess your priorities]
- A copy of Shabono by Florinda Donner [I first read this book when I was a teenager with a hunger for adventure and it blew me away. It is about time spent with a remote tribe in a magical South American rainforest. It made me want to go to a rainforest, and for sure it will reignite a passion for adventure in you when you read it!]
TO ENTER: In the comments below tell us what your single most important piece of advice for life is. Please be sure to include your full name and country in your comment. Then share a link to this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter including the words @DoWhatYouLoveXx #dowhatyoulove
DEADLINE: This giveaway will close at 12 noon GMT on Tuesday 13 August 2013. Any comments left after then will not be counted. **THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED**
THE SMALL PRINT: There will be one winner who will be chosen from the entries after the deadline, and announced on this blog shortly afterward. The competition is open to anyone over 18 anywhere in the world and shipping will be covered. There is no cash alternative. Our decision on the winner is final and no correspondence will be entered into. By entering you agree for your email address to be added to our mailing list but you can unsubscribe at any time.
