Last year I had set aside a week to vacation with an old friend from Europe, and during our trip he shared that he was dying of a rare but terminal disease. I enjoyed the time we spent together and managed to hold it together for most of our visit, but I experienced deep, sobbing grief after we parted. (He had already come to terms with his mortality; I had not.)
During the trip he told me a story that I want to share with you now:
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Bobby: “I was sitting in a pub a few months ago talking with a mate, and he asked me if I could live anywhere in the world, where would I live?
I thought for a moment, then rattled off a list of requirements: I want to stay in this time zone so I can continue to service my clients (via internet). I’d want someplace tropical. Where the economy was prospering. Where they had an interesting culture, great food, and where people spoke English. Someplace where everyone has equal rights.
My mate offered: South Africa
I replied, Yes! I love South Africa! I’ve been there, the people are great, and it matches everything on my list!
At that point my friend paused, looked me straight in the eye, and said, ‘So what are you waiting for?’
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That stopped me dead in my tracks. I was about to stammer an answer, but realized it didn’t have one. Here I just stated if I could live anywhere in the world I would live in South Africa, and there wasn’t a single reason I could think of why not to go, except a voice in my head saying, ‘What if…?’ (fear).
The next day I did my homework, found a real-estate agent, and bought a plane ticket to South Africa!”
Bobby leaves a week from Monday to search for his dream home.
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Bobby’s story reminded of three truisms:
o. Everyone dies eventually, and you never know when your day (or your friends’ last day) will be.
o. You can put off until “someday” things you want to do, only to realize in your golden years that someday came and went and you never followed your bliss.
o. You don’t need to have a terminal disease to “live like you are dying” (live each day to the fullest).
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If you could live anywhere, do anything you wanted for a living, etc., what would you do?
So what are you waiting for?
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Jack Molisani
President, ProSpring Technical Staffing
Executive Director, The LavaCon Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies
o. Follow Jack Molisani on Twitter.
o. The LavaCon Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies is now open for registration.
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