Are You Ready to Die?

Gratitude, patience, and perseverance are my three keys to a great life.
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Most of us don’t want to die. I sure don’t. But I know it’s going to happen and I plan to do everything in my power to make the rest of my time here as meaningful as possible. My wife and I recently had our first child, so life has taken on a whole new meaning. Whether you have children or not, I believe it is our individual responsibility to make the most out of life. Of course, that is different for everyone, but there are so many people who struggle with their health and well being. They allow circumstances control their state of being, they lack the mindset to overcome challenging situations, or they succumb to the pressure of society, friends, and big business.

We’ve all been given the amazing gift of life. Regardless of your beliefs, researchers have shown that two thirds of all fertilized eggs don’t make it to the embryo stage. That means you already beat the odds. Congratulations, you could’ve been flushed out with all the rest! The fact that you were conceived, became a fertilized egg, embryo, fetus, little human and mature adult is miraculous. You have opposable thumbs and the ability to reason. It’s time to stop getting caught up in the little things and celebrate.

I’m not telling you what to do, but I hear so many people clamoring about this problem or that situation. They are complaining about their job, their relationship, their health, their finances, and on and on. It’s baffling to me when I know there are billions, yes billions, of people around the world who would trade places in a heartbeat. It’s a sad state of affairs, this age of entitlement, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that people make the most out of life.

Gratitude, patience, and perseverance are my three keys to make the most out of this wonderful thing called life.

Are you grateful? If you woke up this morning you have something to be grateful about. According to the CDC over 2 and half million people die in this country every year. And of those, over half die from arguably preventable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and the like. Don’t be someone who dies unnecessarily. Make sure you eat right, exercise, get your blood checked and use the latest science and technology to keep yourself well. That also means staying humble and grateful.

Do you have patience? In our day and age we want things now. Even faster than now. Apparently in the not so distance future, drones will be delivering items to your home within minutes of your order. It’s going to be the Uber of Amazon Prime. Or advertisers will be scanning our social media posts and send us free samples if we mention a product. I’m sure some people will understand that all this technology is really just a tool to help us and bring us together. And there are others that will not understand that patience really is a virtue and that delayed gratification builds character and brings happiness and self-confidence.

Will you persevere? There was a recent article in Science Daily about athletes who continued to compete into their later years. They were competitive while they were young, maintained their fitness levels through masters level competition and were shown to have 14% or more muscle mass in their 80’s than fellow octogenarians.

Where are you on the spectrum? Short with people? Feel like the world owes you something? It doesn’t. Do you have patience? Can you wait for the desert, the job offer, the vacation? Try it once in a while and build your patience. Remember what your mom told you, it’s a virtue. What about perseverance? Do you have it like the older athletes? Are you in it for the long haul or looking to cash out early? What does that say about how you live your life? That one is for you to answer.

So that’s it, stay grateful for everything you have, even the bad stuff. Focus on the things you have and not the things you don’t. Use patience and delayed gratification for the wellness of your own being and strength of your character. And that, with a little effort will allow you to persevere through anything life has to offer, even the time when you’re approaching the end. It’s your life, this go around only comes once, enjoy it! @teddymcdonald

Photo Credit: unsplash.com/@willvanw