If you knew you had only a month to live...

[BanzaiBonnie]

How would you spend it?

What would you do with the time you had? What would you want to leave as your legacy?
What kind of a difference could you make in the world?




I'm asking this because I believe that solving the problems we face is going to take ALL of us. Each of us has talents, skills, intelligence and a VOICE. Working together, we can weather the storms that are headed our way. This is the beginning of a grand journey... to find a better way of being together in community.

Please think about what you have to offer. Even if you don't have a dime in your pocket, you matter.

[aSpeckofDust]

1. Probably give away my possessions to friends and family and join the red cross, if I wasn't

bedridden. Go out with a helping hand.

[Bucky]

2. I'd probably go to Libya and fight for the good guys.

They'll probably be the bad guys in a few years, if they win. But it'd be nice pitching in for a worthy cause.

[Name removed]

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[bluestate10]

4. One month to live?

Since one month to live and we know about it doesn't sneak up on one, I would have done all the heavy lifting. Since I would not need my worldly possessions, I would arrange to give some to worthy family and the rest to scholarship funds.

[monmouth]

5. Get a second opinion....n/t

[abelenkpe]

6. +1 nt. :)

[BanzaiBonnie]

7. Always keep hope alive

Sweet.

[onecent]

17. lol...

[Lucinda]

8. Great post. Thanks for the reminder.

♥

[LiberalEsto]

9. Make recordings for any future grandchildren

I don't have any grandkids now, but I have 2 daughters in their 20s.
I'd want to put together some kind of memory books for them and do some kind of camcorder conversations that they could play to learn about me.

I grew up without knowing any of my grandparents. My mother died long before I had kids, and my father died when they were very little, so my kids only knew my husband's parents.

If able, I'd clear out the clutter in my house and write down various passwords so my husband could cancel things. Also put my writing and poems together in case anyone wanted to look at them in the future. I'd ID all the old photos.

And I'd call or e-mail friends in order to have a chance to say goodby.

[Urban Prairie]

10. Take some life threatening risks that I would not do otherwise, if healthy enough to do so

Maybe travel to Japan if they accepted my offer to help them in any way that I was capable of doing with the ongoing Fukushima nuclear reactors crisis.

If not, then I would likely then try to help those Japanese struggling to survive within or nearby the exclusion zone.

Might as well live the brief remainder of the end of my life on a positive note, rather than just "living it up" by getting wild, crazy, drunk, and very drugged, because having the knowledge a month beforehand that it was soon to end would make it very difficult to enjoy doing that anyway, at least in my case.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. ...hope it wasn't February.

Seriously, it's a good thing to think about.

[Wait Wut]

12. I'd spend the first 29 days worrying about telling my son.

I'd spend the last day saying good-bye. After spending a lifetime of giving, helping, fighting...my last month would be all about my family.

[Old Troop]

13. When I was diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma, the doc told me to

get my affairs in order (I really wanted to tell him I wasn't having an affair, but I digress). He said that statistically my condition predicted death in about 3 months. I chose to continue living my life as always, going to work when I was able and enjoying my wife, kids and grandkids. I didn't see a reason to change anything or embark on a new way of living.
By the way....I didn't die.

[BanzaiBonnie]

19. That's why it's good to get that second opinion

Especially when it's your opinion that counts most.

[BanzaiBonnie]

24. Glad you're still here Old Troop

[sasha031]

14. go to Japan Fukushima, if they would have me

I feel so helpless watching this tragedy unfold.
I don't have any scientific experience, I know they need help.

[Bonhomme Richard]

15. All I can say is that I better be immobile. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

16. Set myself on fire and jump to my death from the Senate gallery

And I'd leave a VOLUMINOUS suicide note detailing the evils of our "way of life". With names and dates and everything.

Or I'd go to Marrakesh.

[Fly by night]

18. Keep doing what I'm doing.

Working in the Garden.

Spreading aged mule manure around my blueberries.

Petting my old dog, early and often.

Enjoying my own bed.

Taking long wood-fired saunas and then jumping in the frigid creek.

Sending "thank you" notes to everyone I'm close to.

Watching for the Canadian geese pair as they fly over every morning on their way to and from their nest on my big pond, while drinking my morning quart of coffee.

Laughing at the tom turkeys serenading hens in the pine woods with their "come hither" chortles.

Listening to the gurgle of the waterfall just downhill from my front porch.

Watching another movie I've never seen before.

Giving thanks, and lighting three fires.

Living one day at a time.

PS: Oh yeah, and reading DU -- early and often.

[BanzaiBonnie]

20. A life lived full and well ~ perfect

[Countdown_3_2_1]

21. I would sell everything and blow it all on wine, women and song! nt

[spanone]

22. i'd probably be really depressed for 29 days or so?

[BanzaiBonnie]

23. I find that being alive holds its best for me

In the small moments.

Connecting with life and recognizing divinity in everything. Holding all of it sacred, because it's life.



Thank you all for sharing. It's good to walk this way again.


A couple of days ago, I got an email from a fellow who has been pretty down with one thing or another; health and living arrangement issues. He had decided to jump off a bridge. Then he realized he wanted to see the ocean one more time. So off he went. But on the way, he saw a casino and decided what the hell. He didn't have much left to lose. He bet $100 at Blackjack and ended up with $700 in his pocket.

With that small encouragement, he decided that his life was not over; that he wasn't done with this world. And I can assure you that all of us who know him hope he's around for a long time because he makes our days brighter and a little bit lighter.

If you wonder what he does, he's a street musician with a dream to bring smiles to those who pass his way. And he's successful!

[Hydra]

25. I had it happen 2 months ago

And I'd had near misses before that, so I figured out how to deal with it.

Live each day without regrets.

Today I found out I was laid off in 2 days. No big deal. I'm still going to to finish my shift tonight and the last one on Sunday.

Tomorrow I'll look for jobs. Then I'll go to work, and then I'll work with the state or the Feds to get more help for my disabled relative.

In between, I'll enjoy what I've got.

It's actually very zen. What would you have done differently today if you knew you were going to die?