Live With the End in Mind
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
When I was in my mid-twenties and living in New York City, I had a nightmare. In my dream, many of my loved ones died. The next morning, when I woke up to discover that the agony was just a dream, I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge.
I’ve always loved the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer Scrooge decided in an instant to completely change his life. It’s one of my favorite books because it gives a road map of radical transformation. Scrooge taught me that it’s never too late to live your best life, and you’re never unredeemable. The morning I woke up from my own nightmare, I was so thankful that all of my people were still alive and well. I then started to think of that nightmare as a gift and wondered what it could teach me.
I began to ponder, if that nightmare were true, what would I want to change about my life? I wanted to start living with the end in mind. Not in a morbid way. I don’t sit around fearing death. But I had the dream as a picture of the end of my loved ones’ lives. I also pictured my own funeral and wondered what my regrets might be in both of those situations. Two very important changes happened in my life that morning. I started mailing cards for birthdays and Christmas to my loved ones. In the cards I very deliberately spell out the attributes that I appreciate and love about each of them. Because if they ever disappeared from my life, I wouldn’t want to leave any of my love unsaid.
I also decided to start traveling more since travel lights a fire in my soul and is something I enjoy doing personally. I now try to travel outside of the country at least once a year and enjoy our own beautiful country by exploring new places here a couple of times a year.
That nightmare was a gift because it forced me to live with the end in mind. I imagined the person I would want to be and then started to immediately create that person in small but meaningful ways. I encourage you to ponder your own end sometime. Is there anything you would regret not doing? Anything you would want to say to someone to show how much you love them? Then take those realizations and think of any ways you can bring those longings to life. The great news is, you still have life to live!
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Productively Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team