“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” Norman Cousins
Those of you who have followed me now for a few years know my"healthy" obsession with death.
I installed an app called
WeCroak on my iPhone that reminds me 5 times a day with a quote that I’m going to die. The coaches make fun of me, but I know Teria Harris is inspired by it!
I lost my sister this year to COVID-19. She was only 52 years old and had terrible chronic pain called trigeminal neuralgia. It’s the worst pain known to man as it affects the nerve in your brain and sends pain signals down your face. Despite living in chronic horrific pain, she maintained a good marriage, worked full days as a teacher, and found joy in traveling the world.
She had complications from brain surgery, went into physical therapy, and contracted COVID-19 while in therapy. She fought for several weeks and finally became too weak and succumbed to the virus.
I share this story with you because the fundamental delusion that we are all denying to some extent or another is our inevitable death. The truth is we are going to lose eventually everyone and everything.
I find that thought so comforting in the sense it grounds me to the present moment and I find myself just enjoying the game of life so much more. I try not to take insults or slights personally, I try not to hold on to anger or dwell in the past. I try not to waste time distracting myself with things that truly don’t move my soul or have me disconnect from others. When my teens don’t want to connect with me I try not to get upset either. Everyone is just trying to get their needs met. Everyone is doing their best with what they’ve got. I haven’t mastered this skill, but each day I strive to improve…
I continue to increase my passive income only to the extent it buys me more time to enjoy the precious time I have left. I want to serve others, travel more, write more, meet more interesting people, take care of my mind and body, eat delicious healthy food and continue each day to be grateful for everything I have while I still have it. Essentially, I don’t want to take even a moment of this life for granted.
When I’m stressed, or I find my mind wandering, I have a little trick to ground myself back to the present moment and quiet my mind.
I take a long deep breath in through the nose for over 6 seconds and breathe out for over 6 seconds and pretend that this is my last and final breath. My mind just calms. Try it for yourself and let me know if it works for you.
See if just before bed if you can reflect on your day what went well, what you could improve, and take a moment to dwell a bit on your mortality and those you love. Maybe you’ll let go of that petty argument with your spouse or call that friend you’ve been meaning to call, but just couldn’t find time to because of the busyness of life. Maybe you’ll catch your kids doing something amazing and you’ll remember how madly in love you are with them and give them that look only a parent can give that conveys how truly special and loved they are.
Remember, you don’t know when you or those you love will breathe their last breath. So as you build your passive income and grow your business take time to stop, breathe and fully experience the miracle of your short life.
“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up – that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
