Will you live forever?

“Your time is running out” says the villain to the hero. How often have you heard this phase in the movies? Of course, we know that this is a lie. The villain’s declaration is just a cue for our heroine to spring into action. She will then surprise us with some type of unexpected near miraculous escape.  Perhaps, she will fool the villain into talking long enough so she can manage her escape. You know how villains like to explain their entire rationale for their villager.  This comment on time may be the most common phrase or at least one of the most common in all of theater. It is so melodramatic that authors can not refuse to use it. 

However, what do you think you would do if your doctor said this to you?  Perhaps at your next physical, you doctor tells you that “your time is running out.” Would you simply think of the metaphor of an hourglass with the sands of time running through it or would it strike a more essential chord of your being.  I am going to guess the latter.  You would want to know how much time you had left. You would want to know how you could escape this trap.  If there were no way out, eventually you would start wondering how you should spend the rest of your remaining days.  Suddenly time and its effective use would become the most important priority in your life.  Many of us would drop the nonessentials and focus on only the truly important things in our lives.

Karen's mother died from breast cancer and she has always had a fear of this form of death.  We often joke about who will live longer, and she has repeatedly said "Oh, you are so healthy and active, you will live forwever."  I seldom if ever am sick. In 13 years of teaching at Globe, I had only taken one sick day. In my 11 years of consulting before Globe, I had never taken even one sick day.  Imagine, our surprise when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer two weeks ago.  I told Karen "See, I beat you again and I was right again."  Sort of sick humor I guess.  I know few men die of prostate cancer (could I be the first?) but the idea of having cancer and of hearing my doctor say "The bad news is you have cancer" is not what I expected to hear.  I mean, I have always been so healthy how could these f-------- germs attack me.  I would think they would pick on a smoker or drinker or someone who is always sickly.  I watch my diet and my food.  Oh, well, that's the way the diagnosis goes.  I want to live my life like my friend Harold who when he was dying said "I have no regrets."  What a great inscription for my tombstone.  

Ironically, whether your doctor or a villain says it to you, it is a hundred percent true fact that time is running out for each of us each day.  Do you know anyone who ever said “my time is running in?”  Do you know anyone who knows the hour of their death?  Maybe, you should think more about your real priorities each day before it is too late, before someone else tells you that your time is running out.  Perhaps, you should be asking yourself today “What really does matter to me?”  

Do you spend more time doing what matters or do you spend more time on the nonessentials?  What would you change in your life if you were suddenly confronted with the fact that “Your time is running out?”