Don’t Just Exist – Live Life to the Fullest
Vietnam Trip with my Wife
On 26 November 2005, my mum passed away. She was 56 years old. I am the same age now as my Mum was when she was first diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, a Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumour.
Two weeks ago, my wife and I went on a two week holiday to Vietnam and had an absolutely fantastic time. At the time of writing this we have been back for a week and the above has been on my mind every day since getting back.
Why am I telling you this? Like many of us, I have realised that I had become a bit complacent in relation to my life and what I am doing. I was in the “groove” of the day to day. The problem with this is that those days turn into weeks, those weeks into months and those months into years. Suddenly you look back and 2 or 3 years have gone past and you are wondering what you have done with the time. Does this sound familiar?
The great Oscar Wilde once said – “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all”
We shouldn’t need a death or the trigger of being the same age as someone who is diagnosed to “scare us” into living life. We are all on this planet for a short amount of time, and we should all be making the most of it.
There are a lot of things I want to do in life before my time is up. The biggest problem is that none of us know when our time is up. We should be living every day to the fullest and making plans to tick all the things off our bucket list. Forget the phrase “one day”. Start planning now to do all the things you want to do – don’t wait.
I have re-written my bucket list and prioritised the things that are really important to me and my family. I have done a lot in my life, but there is a lot still to do and I am not getting any younger.
Don’t wait for bad news to start living. Start living now, stop to smell the roses, travel, love and do all those crazy things you want to do. I never asked my mum, but I can guarantee there were things she wished she had done. Please don’t be that person!
David Patterson - Director The Bucket list Accountant