Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Live each day as if it were your last... yeah, right
Sounds like a wonderful bit of advice, with the subtext that it'll allow you to make the most out of life... but will it?
If you knew that tomorrow would be your final day: Would you go to work and/or school? Would you exercise or take any other health-enhancing measures such as stress reduction or consuming nutritional supplements? Would you make, or go to, any doctor or dentist appointments? What kinds of food would you eat, and in what quantities? Would you bother showering, brushing or flossing? Would you do any housecleaning or yard maintenance? If you had sex, would you use contraception or worry about safer sex? If there was someone hot you've wanted to sleep with who was willing, but you'd held back because at least one of you wasn't single, would you go for it? Would you waste time picking up your dry cleaning or running other errands? Would you shave, trim your toenails, or do anything else that'd essentially be primping your corpse? Would you be polite to people you dislike? If you'd previously quit drinking, smoking or doing drugs, would you binge on them? Would you read/listen to/watch the news? Would you engage in any retirement planning? Would you get those squeaky brakes on your car checked? Would you sleep for even one minute? Would you obey the speed limit and other traffic laws? Would you worry about the price of anything you wanted to buy, especially if you had no dependents?
Would you blog?
The reality is that we have to do lots of things that we don't like, and restrict or eliminate things we DO like, in order to be healthy, to not live in a pigsty, to earn a living, to get along with those we can't avoid, and so on; if you were honestly going to live each day as you would your last, you'd have to live like a lunatic or little kid with no idea as to consequences... it can't be done.
What if the quote was just meant to refer to your free time, rather than allowing for things like not working or doing other important tasks? If you were honestly going to treat that time as if it were on your last day, you'd still make plenty of choices that'd be disastrous long-term; on the constructive side, it's likely that you'd want to contact as many of your loved/liked ones as possible to say good-bye, tell them how you feel, and have final exchanges of whatever thoughts you'd never gotten around to sharing... but you can't have those "final conversations" on a daily basis. In general, you can't just pick the 1 or 2 most fun or emotionally important things and do only those every day; even if it were possible, it'd be foolish, and would mean eliminating the variety and new experiences that're a part of a healthy, happy life.
What if the quote was just meant to encourage you to do MORE of the most important or joy-making things each day? Unless you're self-destructive or an idiot, aren't you ALREADY doing the things that're the most important or joy-making for you as much as you can within the confines of living your life properly? I don't mean the things that other people or your guilty conscience tells you SHOULD be the top stuff, but the ones that actually ARE; isn't whatever you're CHOOSING to do the stuff that's truly important to you, and what actually gives you the most enjoyment for your effort (whether that means doing outdoor activities, knitting like a maniac every spare moment or just sitting quietly watching TV)?
What if the quote just means "Live life to the fullest"... translation, DO more, and make sure it's stuff that OTHER people see as worthwhile? Screw THAT; I want to do LESS "worthwhile" stuff, and spend more time doing trivial things like playing solitaire (with CARDS) or just lounging around and staring out the window, thus becoming more relaxed and happier... how about you?
And finally, what if the quote is just an encouragement to savor life? Unless you've got some sort of mental illness (which would need to be treated with MEDS, not glib advice), you're already savoring everything to the degree that's right for you based on your personality and circumstances; if you're so busy that you don't have time to, say, fully enjoy your food, making your time crunch worse by pausing and going "mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm" after every bite so that eating takes 5x as long won't work in your favor... and focusing on things you don't care enough about to already be "savoring" with the idea that this'll improve your life is just nuts.
With that said, there clearly ARE some people who get all wrapped up and frenzied about their lives, such that they're not really living them to the full because they "forget" that they'd be more satisfied if they smelled the occasional rose... but there's a whole different saying that better applies to them.
What we SHOULD be saying is "Live each day like you're gonna live another 100 years"; this would encourage you to take the long view, and make the best choices about caring for your body, managing your $ and maintaining your relationships, so that they'd all be in the best possible shape for the many years you'd have to live with the consequences of your decisions. Do you think that'll make it onto a bumper sticker anytime soon?
If you knew that tomorrow would be your final day: Would you go to work and/or school? Would you exercise or take any other health-enhancing measures such as stress reduction or consuming nutritional supplements? Would you make, or go to, any doctor or dentist appointments? What kinds of food would you eat, and in what quantities? Would you bother showering, brushing or flossing? Would you do any housecleaning or yard maintenance? If you had sex, would you use contraception or worry about safer sex? If there was someone hot you've wanted to sleep with who was willing, but you'd held back because at least one of you wasn't single, would you go for it? Would you waste time picking up your dry cleaning or running other errands? Would you shave, trim your toenails, or do anything else that'd essentially be primping your corpse? Would you be polite to people you dislike? If you'd previously quit drinking, smoking or doing drugs, would you binge on them? Would you read/listen to/watch the news? Would you engage in any retirement planning? Would you get those squeaky brakes on your car checked? Would you sleep for even one minute? Would you obey the speed limit and other traffic laws? Would you worry about the price of anything you wanted to buy, especially if you had no dependents?
Would you blog?
The reality is that we have to do lots of things that we don't like, and restrict or eliminate things we DO like, in order to be healthy, to not live in a pigsty, to earn a living, to get along with those we can't avoid, and so on; if you were honestly going to live each day as you would your last, you'd have to live like a lunatic or little kid with no idea as to consequences... it can't be done.
What if the quote was just meant to refer to your free time, rather than allowing for things like not working or doing other important tasks? If you were honestly going to treat that time as if it were on your last day, you'd still make plenty of choices that'd be disastrous long-term; on the constructive side, it's likely that you'd want to contact as many of your loved/liked ones as possible to say good-bye, tell them how you feel, and have final exchanges of whatever thoughts you'd never gotten around to sharing... but you can't have those "final conversations" on a daily basis. In general, you can't just pick the 1 or 2 most fun or emotionally important things and do only those every day; even if it were possible, it'd be foolish, and would mean eliminating the variety and new experiences that're a part of a healthy, happy life.
What if the quote was just meant to encourage you to do MORE of the most important or joy-making things each day? Unless you're self-destructive or an idiot, aren't you ALREADY doing the things that're the most important or joy-making for you as much as you can within the confines of living your life properly? I don't mean the things that other people or your guilty conscience tells you SHOULD be the top stuff, but the ones that actually ARE; isn't whatever you're CHOOSING to do the stuff that's truly important to you, and what actually gives you the most enjoyment for your effort (whether that means doing outdoor activities, knitting like a maniac every spare moment or just sitting quietly watching TV)?
What if the quote just means "Live life to the fullest"... translation, DO more, and make sure it's stuff that OTHER people see as worthwhile? Screw THAT; I want to do LESS "worthwhile" stuff, and spend more time doing trivial things like playing solitaire (with CARDS) or just lounging around and staring out the window, thus becoming more relaxed and happier... how about you?
And finally, what if the quote is just an encouragement to savor life? Unless you've got some sort of mental illness (which would need to be treated with MEDS, not glib advice), you're already savoring everything to the degree that's right for you based on your personality and circumstances; if you're so busy that you don't have time to, say, fully enjoy your food, making your time crunch worse by pausing and going "mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm" after every bite so that eating takes 5x as long won't work in your favor... and focusing on things you don't care enough about to already be "savoring" with the idea that this'll improve your life is just nuts.
With that said, there clearly ARE some people who get all wrapped up and frenzied about their lives, such that they're not really living them to the full because they "forget" that they'd be more satisfied if they smelled the occasional rose... but there's a whole different saying that better applies to them.
What we SHOULD be saying is "Live each day like you're gonna live another 100 years"; this would encourage you to take the long view, and make the best choices about caring for your body, managing your $ and maintaining your relationships, so that they'd all be in the best possible shape for the many years you'd have to live with the consequences of your decisions. Do you think that'll make it onto a bumper sticker anytime soon?
