Live every day like it is your last… Good advice or mad advice?

You’ve heard this before. You may have thought it to be a wonderful thing. You may have thought it to be the most unrealistic thing. You may have thought only those given a few months to live could ever be brave enough to live so.

I have thought so too. And yet when I look at the picture below, I wonder if some mad recklessness is trying to take over. And no, I’m not bungee jumping – I’m no adrenaline junkie and I am not particularly adventure-seeking even. (Fact apart, that odd adventures sometimes come and seek me.) And even if the picture may scream otherwise, I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat even.

But I love travel, nature and new experiences and ziplining in the beautiful temperate rainforest in Whistler, BC sounded so fabulous.

I normally don’t post personal pictures – but if this isn’t the ‘letting go’ picture… what is? 

But should I tell you that a week before I tried turning upside down on the zipline like my husband and daughter, I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to travel? That I felt so sick and tired, I only wanted to curl up in bed with a book? So what changed? I saw my doctor, and a new antibiotic regimen later, I suddenly felt much better. And that I suppose is where the recklessness comes in. I have turned into that proverbial camel who when given an inch will take a yard. The foolish romantic who has barely learnt to walk but only wants to run.  I understand I could slip back where I was a few weeks ago, but before I do so; I seem to want to do the things I want to do.

That is why I think of the quote above and wonder if I may be attempting a somewhat cautious version of it. And I wonder if it is good advice or mad. I realize that there is no follow-up quote that tells you what to do when you’ve lived today like it was your last, but wake up tomorrow to realize (thankfully) that it was not your last; but are left sore and tired and unable to live again like it is your last... hmm… I may at least have a bright future in tongue twisters, I suppose.

Sure you can try and not waste your time and energy in things that amount to nothing. Sure you can occupy your day with stuff that is meaningful or fun. Sure you can spend your days with only those that you want to be with. But in the end, it is all only to a certain extent.

Real life, reality, mundane chores, boring tasks, sticky situations, lack of energy, aches and pains will catch up with you. But again, they were all going to catch up with you anyways. So why not live it your way before they do?