A few weeks ago, my fiancee and I rented the move P.S., I Love You for a weekend date-night. Here is a quick summary. Following a plan her husband had laid out for her before his death, letters and messages came to a grieving widow over the course of a year. This woman fought through her despair and gradually came back to the land of the living because of her late husband’s encouragement. This movie got me thinking about our encouragement series on the VBL Blog. I thought this example might show us a new way to encourage those we love. I’m not suggesting you create an elaborate recovery plan like the man in the movie. I’m simply asking you to think about your world without you in it.
You may not believe me now, but the man in the movie was lucky. After being diagnosed with a terminal condition, he was able to reconcile with his mortality well enough to focus on the one he loved and the legacy he would leave behind. I have some bad news for you; you are not going to live forever on this earth. I have a cynical friend who says that life itself is a terminal condition. The good news is that you too can focus on the ones you love and the legacy you will leave behind. My main question for you on this edition of the VBL Blog is: What would you do if you knew you only have 30 days left to live?
Would your family know where to find your crucial financial and estate information? I recommend you build a Love Drawer to hold all of your important information. See what financial expert Dave Ramsey says about the Love Drawer.
What would you want to say to your spouse and your children? Write letters to be delivered on special birthdays or occasions. Or better yet, make a video or a series of videos to express your love to those who matter most to you.
Some other important questions you may want to consider as you live your “last” 30 days:
- Who do you call?
- Where do you go?
- What do you read?
- How much time do you spend sleeping or watching TV?
- What do you pray?
Live with these questions as you think about your life with the knowledge that you aren’t going to live forever. Many people take this knowledge to mean that they would be able to live without consequences. They reason that they should live for the moment. This is not what values-based living is about. VBL is about living in the moment. Everything that you do has consequences. Aren’t we glad that if we do good things, good things happen? No one on earth knows the exact moment of his or her own death. Shouldn’t we make each day count by living like it could be our last?
