One Month To Live.........

No, I do not have a terminal illness... thankfully!! This past Wednesday, I started a 6 week bible study titled "One Month To Live". So... I started REALLY thinking about the question...........

What would you do if you were told you had ONE Month To Live?

While I feel my priorities are pretty square and that I am true to what is most important to myself and those whom I love most...... I know I do not follow those priorities each day and I KNOW I do NOT live to the fullest all the time... not 90% of the time, dare I say 50/50 or worse at times. Ask yourself this.... "Are you full of LIFE? or Is your life just FULL?"

I recently told my mother "you cannot take your things to the grave" as we were talking about a cruise she had the opportunity to take to South America for little money and wished she had done. I told her to "just do it" and "what are you waiting for?". One of her reasons was that she did not like the idea of going on a cruise by herself. I said "I can understand that, but you are not likely to meet someone who loves to travel while you are at home". Then the conversation went on as we talked about a friend of hers that has few fancy possessions yet is constantly traveling all over the world. My mother said this friend says she works to travel not to buy things. That is when my "you cannot take your things to the grave" comment came to play.

This is something that I fundamentally believe and *TRY* to live by as a principle of my being. Do I stray and do I have too many 'things' that shows I have strayed? YES and YES! Do I still repeat this comment in my head when I get bummed about not having certain things that I *want* to have? YES. Bottom line.... it is a battle. We ALL have battles that we continue to fight... we ALL would change the way we live if we were told "YOU have ONE month to live".

I can HONESTLY say, I do NOT not know all that I would change... I can say that I would call each person I love deeply and tell them as such... that I would spend my days with those that meant the MOST to me (mainly my husband and my children).... that I would not care about money at all and do what I choose... that I would do WHATEVER my heart desired at the MOMENT that it DESIRED. This is what I would like to think I would do.... but until I was actually faced with those words, I cannot say as such. ONE thing I CAN say that I WOULD do........... I would NOT worry about my 'things'... I would LOVE and SHOW my love... I would create MEMORIES... as MANY as I could.

The timing of this study is very poignant for me.... as a good friend welcomed a sweet little boy into the world last Monday thus the beginning of life... while a very close friend of ours (Mark's best friend whom he has know since they were 3) father has been told he only has a few months to live.... as another good friend's mother passed away a week ago from a terminal illness thus the ending of life. Personally.... feeling a strong sense of change occurring in my life and the need to embrace it.. something I am trying to remain open to, even if it is hard. I know God is already at work with me... as he always is when help is needed. I have witness a few small changes already that have been very positive. Maybe the change is what this study will show me, open my eyes to, to re-focus, to make some changes to better myself and those around me? Maybe the change is myself returning to work to financially help my family or working out a REAL plan to make our finances better? Maybe the change is something that will be very difficult to endure? Maybe all of the above and more? Whatever it may be.... I DO have faith in God's plan and am choosing to embrace what is ahead... with God's help, all is possible... this I DO believe.

Here are the four principles of the book/study (when stated, these are principles that I believe and am going to focus my attention on during this study... and try to follow as best I can long after the study is done):
1. Live Passionately
2. Love Completely
3. Learn Humbly
4. Leave Boldly

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body." ~C. S. Lewis