What If You Only Had 6 Months Left to Live?
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Imagine you only had 6 months left to live… what would you do differently (if anything)? Would you keep doing the work you’re doing? Would you be with the same partner? Would you be with any partner? Would you live where you live now? Would you enjoy life more, worry less? Play more, work less? What would it look like?
Sometimes simple, small pivots in how we perceive life and/or use our time can make a big difference.
The first time I asked myself this question, it was a big shift phase in my life. I was in my early 30s. I’d just been through a string of significant losses and realized, after 9 years working my way up the corporate ladder (a career in marketing): my ladder was against the wrong wall. I knew it was a problem when I found myself taking cry breaks in the office bathroom. I knew I couldn’t continue on this path. I’d literally rather light myself on fire.
But do what instead? How?
It took years of wrestling with myself and trying everything but leaving the job (including scuba diving in the dark, dancing on the stage at a work holiday party, and jumping out of an airplane) to finally admit what my deepest calling was. I wanted to study psychology, metaphysics, spirituality, transformation, and human potential. I wanted to dive headlong into the center of my questions until either there were no questions left or the questions gobbled me up, whichever came first. Then, I don’t know, maybe I’d share what I’d learned with others. Write a book, blog, coach, guide, or something.
Why did I fight what was always so clear? Because I didn’t like the answer. I wanted an easier, more practical, mainstream dream.
When we first start listening to our hearts—and even later when we are more practiced at it—the mind can get so over-active with fear stories it can be hard to separate what’s what. It wasn’t MY fear. It was all MIND STORY. I just didn’t know the difference between these two yet.
One fear-busting step at a time, Soul/Trust started to edge Mind/Fear out and I began to redesign my life. I left my marketing career, went back to school, ended a marriage that no longer fit the person I was, became a coach, wrote that book, met my soul mate, and eventually we sold everything to vagabond the world. (5 years and counting!) Once you see what can’t be unseen, anything less is unacceptable.
I still ask myself this end-of-life question to check alignment. If I’m not doing or being what I would be doing or being if I had 6 months left to live—if I’m not following my excitement—I know it’s time to take a closer look:
Is a simple mental shift needed to more fully, simply, embrace/appreciate life here, now? 🌻
Do I need to better prioritize my time to do/be more of what I enjoy?
Is a bigger paradigm change in order? 👇🏻
If you know it’s time for a larger pivot, you’ve got two choices: (1) feel the fear and take the small steps to do it anyway or (2) live the rest of your days living someone else’s life. Up to you. If you go for it, whatever it is, I can almost guarantee you will look back and *laugh* when you realize the scary mind stories were just that: stories. Fictions. Ghosts. 90-100% of what the mind says is bull-honkey.
Following callings isn’t easy. But it’s never as bad as the scary stories your mind will tell you about it beforehand.
So I ask you again. What would you be doing RIGHT NOW if you only had 6 months left to live? What conversations would you have? What would you let go of? What would it look like to let yourself simply enjoy life? Isn’t life too short (and too long) not to?
Be/do you 🦄,
KB
