July Newsletter Article...

This is my July Lary Worldwide Newsletter article...

Looking over the Edge…

By Lanny Keithley

The other night I was in bed watching some light TV, surfing the channels, and stopped on the History Channel. This show called “Last Days on Earth” just started. It was describing the seven most logical choices of events, or circumstances that could do in all of humanity. Such things as black holes, giant asteroids, viruses, technology turning against us – all sorts of fun stuff…

Then, they got to one on super volcanoes, which after all the previous ones, wasn’t that big of a deal, until they said that the most logical choice of where it would happen is Yellowstone Park. They were showing some great graphic presentations of how it would happen using a map, which identified the states in the region. I then realized that if such an event were to take place, living in Idaho, we would be cinders in about 2 minutes or less. This was not good news mentally, as one of the one things that I have always felt good about moving to and living here was that it was relatively safe from a natural or man-made disaster point of view – about a thousand miles from the coast or anything worth destroying…

Immediately, my mind started doing its thing - bringing up all sorts of past experiences, past images from movies or whatever, and all the ‘stuff’ in my 60 years of computer’s memory about such scary things. I mentally grabbed it and wrestled it to a halt, but in the past, it could have evolved into a real lather, in no time, if not controlled.

When I was stopping my mind from being concerned about the super volcano, I was thinking “Heck… I could die a lot easier than that, and it wouldn’t take a mega-disaster to do it.” And, besides, I have already looked over the edge of life when I had my throat cancer and all the recovery.

Then, my mind brought up an event that just happened the day before. I was going fishing. Close to my home, there is this strange little uphill curve in the road that is blind to both sides until right at the top. There was this young girl driving the other way, going too fast and talking on the cell phone. She came over the top and barely was able to control her car, make the turn, and therefore not crash head on into me. At the time, I thought about how close that was and again how fragile life really is.

Then, I remembered driving on Highway 1 below San Francisco along the cliffs and being passed by two crazy guys on a totally blind corner. If there had been a car coming the other way, it would have probably been the end for us all.

So, this article is about the fragility of life and enjoying every moment that you have of it. Unless some pending disaster occurs that can define how many days you have left, like with the giant asteroid on the TV show last night, you just never know what is around that next corner. You never will know until your there, but if you don’t at least figure there could be something bad, its hard to really make the most of now, and each successive now you have left in your life.

When I was diagnosed with the throat cancer and within days had the operation and then recovery, I had never really pondered the fragility of life. I had always had reasonably good health and had nothing I couldn’t deal with before. I had also been pretty insulated from death, except for older people, like my parents. Then, BAM, as Emeril would say, there I was – looking over the edge of life with my eyes wide open…

Since then, I have often pondered “What is the most important part of life to savor?” Or better yet, “If you only had time left for one thing, what would it be?” I guess it depends on what you are most needy of - To a starving person, it’s the next meal, and to a suffocating person it’s the next breath. But, figuring all your immediate requirements to survive are met, what things are most important to do and enjoy as possibly your last?

I say “Do” and “Enjoy” separately as they are two very different things to ponder. Each of them necessary and important, in their own right, and should be considered.

Things in the “Do” category include ‘unfinished’ and/or legal business. If any items come up when pondering this question, they should be completed so you don’t have to worry about them anymore. If you don’t do them now, when will they get done and by whom? How many more of your life’s remaining moments do you want to spend worrying about stuff that you need to get done? The unfinished business includes things you feel the need to get done to be happy and satisfied with your life, whatever they may be. The legal business is those things that legally you need to get done to wrap up your life so it won’t be left to loved ones or others to have to decide for you after you are gone.

All the items in above “Do” category were brought up so you can continue freeing up your life of worry and concern, which has been the overall topic of this series of articles, so you can spend more time in the “Enjoy” category. Once you have looked over the edge of life, or even seriously pondered the concept, you know every moment is precious and that life is made up of very few ‘special moments’. And, the more ‘special moments’ you can experience in life, the more enjoyable it will be.

Most everybody had a whole list of things they want to enjoy in life before they die. This list probably includes what you might consider ‘wild and crazy’ or daring things for you to do. If you really ever want to do them, and enjoy the thrill or excitement of having actually done them, you really should consider it now. In most cases, those ‘wild and crazy’ things are doable and would be added to the list of ‘special moments’ in your life’s memories.

In addition to the daring things on your list, you probably have lots of things that you ‘always wanted to do when you got time’. Well, the time is now, or its probably not going to happen. And, with each passing year, your abilities and options will be reduced to further limit any such things from ever happening in your life.

Becoming a lary limited my life’s options and abilities in many ways. It also gave me new options that I never had before. I could have easily become completely depressed, limiting my activities and overall scope of life’s choices. But, I chose to embrace what life I have left and have had many ‘special moments’ that I might not have considered had I not been forced to look over the edge of life.

It is good to keep aware of the fragility of life on a frequent basis. It is so easy to let it become buried in the constant barrage of daily activities and events. If you allow that to happen, it will be over and you will have missed out on the best parts of it.

When your life is being thought about or discussed, most of that process will be about those ‘special moments’ you had in life. I hope you all have many of them.

I would like to wrap up this article with a tag line I have stolen from Buck Martin, a fellow author in Whispers on the Web. It pretty much says it all…

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out, leaking oil, and proclaiming, "WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!!" - (Bill McKenna-professional motorcycle racer)