If You Had It To Do Over

One woman announced, "I intend to live forever! So far so good . . ." But the length of our lives is not the real issue; it's the quality and meaning that matter. Not the years in a life, but the life in the years.

When asked what he wanted to be remembered for when his life was over, Leo Buscaglia replied, "I want to be remembered as somebody who lived life fully and with passion. I've been asked to write my epitaph and I have always thought that the perfect one for my tombstone would be, 'Here lies Leo who died living.'"

I want to die living. And I want to be remembered as one who lived with purpose, joy and verve. I want to spend my time learning what goes into a whole and happy life, then building that life the best I can.

Sociologist Tony Campolo told about a study in which fifty people over the age of 90 were asked to reflect upon their lives. "If you had it to do over again," they were asked, "what would you do differently?" Though there were many answers, three responses dominated. Here they are:

First, many respondents answered, "I would reflect more." Do you ever feel that too much time is spent in "doing" and not enough spent thinking about what you are doing and why you are doing it?

Second, they said, "I would risk more." Do you think that important opportunities either have been or might be forfeited because of your fear to take a necessary risk?

Finally, they said, "I would do more things that would live on after I died." Do you feel that you are immersed in something bigger and more enduring than your own existence?

Reflect more. Risk more. Leave a legacy. These are what our elders say they would do the second time around.

But why wait for a second time around? Every new day is a second chance! important. Risk more today -- take a chance on making that dream come alive. Get involved with something which makes a difference in this world -- and a beautiful legacy is what you will leave behind.

Like Leo Buscaglia, I want to live fully and with passion. And if all my plans don't work out as I had hoped, I'm still betting that I will have more fun!

    ~ Steve Goodier ~

[ by: Steve Goodier (LifeSupport@yahoogroups.com) -- {used with permission} ]