He said: "I was in my early forties,
"With a lot of life before me,
"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
"I spent most of the next days,
"Looking at the x-rays,
"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."
I asked him when it sank in,
That this might really be the real end?
How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man whatcha do?
He said "I was finally the husband,
"That most the time I wasn’t.
"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
"And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,
"Wasn’t such an imposition,
"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
"Well, I finally read the Good Book,
"And I took a good long hard look,
"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,
"And then:
"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."
Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it.
An' what did you do with it?
An' what can I do with it?
An' what would I do with it?
"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."
Some of the lines of this song sound hedonistic. You could focus on the fact that this man, given a fatal diagnosis, spent his remaining time fulfilling his "bucket list", traveling, taking chances. On the other hand, his diagnosis make him a better husband, a person who loves deeper and speaks sweeter because he knows his time is short.
That's me.
Cancer has reminded me what is important in life. While it may not be sky-diving, bull-riding, or other risk taking activities, it is instead surging on a boogie board, being sucked down shore by the rip time. It's laughing long and hard because God set a whole conch shell at my feet (I've been praying for one sing I was 11). It's running into friends in the surf. It's traveling to do two week of research. It's doing the things you've always contemplated but didn't find time for. It's living an extraordinary life, a life of joy and freedom.
May you find what lights you up, before you face the brevity of life. God gave us life to enjoy it and learn from it. What will you do with tomorrow?
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