Live Like: You Were Dying

I cried on my way home yesterday.  Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw played on the radio, and for personal reasons (which I’m sure you could all discern by the lyrics) it nearly broke my heart.

I could relate it to past experiences, present ones, and probably will be able to in the future as well.  I could not tell you if my tears were caused by grief, perspective, hope, all the above, or something else entirely.

All I can say for sure is that I felt it.  Every single word resonated with me.

I have always believed that we hold strong relationships with the arts; be it literature, painting, sculpture, music, cinematography, etc., it is a path for human expression and growth.  Connection and understanding.

I have heard Live Like You Were Dying many times before, but never the way I did last night.

To begin with, this song doesn't even give us any build up, it just jumps right into the heart break.  

"He said, "I was in my early 40s,

With a lot of life before me,

And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days
Lookin' at the X-rays,
Talkin' 'bout the options
And talkin' 'bout sweet time.""
Time...  A concept I have pondered many times over.  The only thing that stops and starts, but also simultaneously never ends.  It is one of the more precious things we are all gifted right from birth, but seem to take for granted the most.  A majority of modern society strives for a level of perfection - financial riches, giant mansions, materialistic belongings - none of which will mean anything when your time runs out.
You could argue that some future generations will prosper from your privilege and wealth, but I would argue (most) would value your presence and -surprise!- time, far more than material objects.
"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?""

Unlike the song, I don't think anyone really knows what to do.  There is no set reaction to finding out you're sick, or have an incurable disease, or may be losing a parent, or a child, a spouse, a neighbor - literally anyone or anything.  But it does ask a solid question - how does it hit you?  What am I supposed to do now?  Are there promising options?  Is there a bright side to all of this darkness?

Then he lists a slew of things he had done with his fleeting time, some of which include: loving deeper, speaking sweeter, and giving forgiveness he'd been denying.  And he even says: 

"Someday I hope you get the chance 

To live like you were dying."  

Which beautifully implies that life can be lived fully, dreams can be reached, goals can be achieved, simply through will power rather than circumstance.

"And I took a good long hard look

At what I'd do if I could do it all again."

What a powerful thought - a man whose life is threatened by an advancing demise isn't just looking to try new things, he is also hoping to relive some of his favorite moments.  Well, I suppose that would be the optimistic view of that lyric.  One could also see it as this man considering a whole new way he could live his life if he had the opportunity to start it over.  Whichever way you view it, there is no restart, not from birth anyway.  We could all use every opportunity to reevaluate our current situations and try and re-live our current version of one of our favorite memories, or do something now that we wish we had done years ago.  

"Like tomorrow was a gift

And you've got eternity
To think about what you'd do with it,
What did you do with it,
What can I do with it,
What would I do with it."

It was around this particular verse when the tears started flowing.  This time you have, that you wake up every day and use, is a gift.  We should practice appreciating every day we're given.  Every day we can get out of bed without assistance, or breathe without an oxygen connection, go wherever we like, simply be independent.  To think about what I would do with a hundred years if I was guaranteed that many, or just forty, or twenty-three.  In all honesty, none of us know how long we will be here.  What did we do with the time we were already granted?  What will we choose to do with all that we have yet to receive?  Can I?  Would I?  How do you spend eternity, if you believe in such a thing?

Recently, a family health scare has brought even more light to this topic for me.  I can only hope that it doesn't continue taking negative experiences to bring such conversation to the forefront.  I was recently told it was "unhealthy" for me to consider my time, and how I spend it.  I still don't understand where that person is coming from.  I don't believe it is unhealthy in any way to choose to reflect on your choices, and evaluate what you like and don't.  

For all we know, we only get this one life.  We shouldn't waste it on unimportant people, places, jobs, travels, education, etc.  We should live it as if we were dying.

(This is simply a personal perception of the lyrics and story behind Live Like You Were Dying.  It is an honest and raw interpretation, that probably won't make sense to everybody, and that's just fine.)