Step Up And Live

The Swine Flu has dominated headlines all over the world recently and there are grave concerns that this could become a fully blown pandemic, the size of which we have not seen since the last great pandemic which was the Spanish Flu back in around 1918. It certainly is a scary prospect to consider. However, are there any positives that can be taken away from this latest challenge to humanity? I’m not sure if there are necessarily positives but there are certainly lessons we can learn to move forwards. Here are 5 things I believe we can all learn from the Swine Flu.

1. Live every day as if it was your last… because one day it will be. Many of us have goals and dreams, things we want to do, achive, contribute and experience. Yet we put off our dreams for another day as we get caught up in day to day living. The excuse is that we’re too busy or that there are other, more pressing priorities. If that’s the way you think, have you noticed how nothing ever changes? Are you ever any less busy? Is there ever a time when there isn’t some challenge or another either immediately confronting you or just around the corner?

To be alive is to have problems. That’s not something to be get down about - it’s a fact. We’re here to solve problems because it is only by solving problems that we move forwards. So we need to stop putting off our dreams for another day. Instead, as one of my mentors told me, “Connect with your mortality.” That might sound like a negative sentiment but the fact is that we are going to die one day - we just don’t know when. So by connecting with my mortality, I realise that every day is a gift - a gift of time to be used for it’s best possible use because once a day is over, it will never come back again. Have you ever got to the end of a day and wondered where it went? You might have been busy but you wonder what you actually achieved? Would you allow that to happen if you knew today could be your last day?

So connect with your mortality. What would you do if today was your last day on earth? Who would you spend time with? Would the things you consider to be pressing and urgent really be so important if today was your last day? I bet your priorities would change wouldn’t they?

The Swine Flu has made many of us who did not think our lives would end for many years afraid - not necessarily afraid of dieing but afraid of having died without really living. For those of us who thought we had lots of time, all of a sudden we realise we don’t. Life is beautiful, life is precious and life is fragile. Never put off your dreams. As Founder of Apple, Steve Jobs said in his famous 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech, live every day as if it was your last, because one day it will be. And remember, even if we do get through the Swine Flu, as almost all of us will, Mark Twain told us that ”Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than the things you did.” So don’t put off your dreams.

Of course, there are many who would say that if today was their last day on earth, they would quit their jobs, spend their remaining hours with family and friends and spend every dollar in their bank account. However, what happens if there is a tomorrow? My response to that is live as if today was your last day on earth but plan and learn as if you’d live forever. Those of us who can get this balance right are those of us who will enjoy true happiness now and in the future.

2. Prioritise Your Health: Too many of us in today’s society place our health at the lowest end of our values and priorities. That is clearly evidenced in the massive increase of obesity and weight related illnesses. We are only given one body and it is up to us to look after it. Instead we take our bodies for granted and then blame our inability to live life to the full on our age, when in fact our age has the least to do with our health and fitness. Stories abound of people in their forties, fifties and sixties who have never run before, taking up running for the first time and in a short while doing marathons. Those sorts of stories I find inspirational but you don’t need to want to be a marathon runner to look after your body. Instead, know that only if your health is at its optimum can you live a full and balanced life.

Many have sadly died from the Swine flu and many more will die before this is all over. The pessimists and detractors will point to the number of healthy and fit people who unfortunately succumbed to the virus. However, it is only by looking after yourself and your body can you give yourself the best fighting chance of triumphing over the Swine flu and any other viruses and diseases that are bound to crop up from time to time.

It is said that many will spend their health to gain wealth, only to spend their wealth in the hope of getting back at least some of the health. Don’t let that be you. Value your health, value your body. Make sure you take the time to look after your body. Some of you will say that you’d love to but you’re just too busy. To me that’s like saying it would be a great idea to fill up the gas tank when you’re driving but you’ve got to keep driving. Eventually, you will break down. If you don’t look after your health, eventually you will break down too.

3. Cherish your relationships: In today’s world where it seems our worth is determined by just how busy we are, many of us take our relationships for granted. If that’s you, stop! It is your relationships that you truly value but make sure your behaviour reflects that. Unfortunately, all relationships will one day be no more as we depart from this world to the next. Don’t let that day come and look back with regret at all the missed opportunities you had to spend with that person, opportunities that will never come back.

Consider your relationships like a bank account. You can either make deposits or withdrawals. Deposits are the things you do and the time you spend to enhance the relationship. Withdrawals are the opposite. If you were to look at your relationships like this, would they be in credit or debit? It is inevitable that withdrawals will have to be made from any relationships, either because of an argument or perhaps one party had to miss an event that was important to the other due to conflicting schedules. However, if you constantly seek to make more deposits than withdrawals, your relationships will be healthy. And if a relationship is ever taken away from you unexpectedly, as will happen to many from the Swine flu, you can at least be safe in the knowledge that you did everything you could to have the best possible relationship with that person. Otherwise, what’s the alternative? It’s a life of regret and wishing you did things differently. Life is too short to have regrets. Too many of us look at life backwards and wish we could have done something different. I suggest we look at what we’re doing or not doing right now and make the change before it’s too late.

I am sure that if you were to be honest with yourself, your relationships with your partner, your children, your family and your friends are worth more to you than all the money in the world. There is no joy in being the richest hobbit on the planet. So cherish your relationships - they will end one day which is a sobering thought so make sure you give them the time they deserve.

4. Value your time: Too many of us take time for granted. The phrase “killing time” is ubiquitous in today’s society, yet time is the only commodity we have that is limited. It is also the only commodity that is equal between the rich and poor. If you knew you were going to die sometime this year, but you did not know when, how would you spend your time? Would you waste time like it was an eternal commodity or would you save time, invest time and maximise your use of your time because it was so precious? For those who have unfortunately been taken by the Swine flu, that was not how they expected to go. So the question for each of us is that if you were to die today, would you be happy with how you have lived your life? It’s a select few who can answer yes to that question - of course there will always be more we’d like to do, but if today was it, would you be happy with everything you have enjoyed and done up until today? If not, what do you need to change? How will you modify the way you use your time from this day forth? Remember, it is the way we live our days that determine our lives. Each and every day is precious and a valuable part of our life. Do you use each day as a building block to design a great life or do you simply limp along, each day bringing you closer to death? Too many of us hope to limp quietly along each day hoping to get safely from birth to death safely. Don’t let that be you. Value your time, use your time to enjoy life and be productive so that when your last day comes, whether it is the swine flu or otherwise, you can look back at your life with joy and personal satisfaction.

5. Live in the moment: So many of us are concerned about the future or living in the past that we forget to actually live in the present. Sometime ago, there was an email chain letter that went something like this: The Past is History, the Future is a Mystery but the Present is a Gift. That’s why it’s called the Present. Live in the present, live in the now. Stop carrying past hurts and negative experiences with you - they happened in the past and that’s where they should be left. Remember, you are going to spend the rest of your life in your future and the only way to create a compelling future is to focus on the present. Many of the fears associated with the Swine Flu are people scared of what might happen. Of course we need to take precautions but for most of us, our fears will be unfounded. Yet will that change your approach to life? Think about what most people have been focusing on for the last 18 months. Right now, it’s the swine flu, up until recently it was the global economic crisis and before that it was the thought of our environment imploding on itself. Where are the positive thoughts here? I’m not saying that swine flu, the economy and that environment are not real issues - they are, but is continuing to focus on all that negativity really going to help you live a happy and fulfilled life? Is it really going to help you take action and contribute to the greater good?

Choose to live in the moment. One of my mentors told me to learn to be grateful and happy with what I have. I remember thinking at the time, how can I be happy when I don’t have much money, when I don’t have a job, when I don’t have….. then I realised something - my mentor told me to be happy with what I have, not to be happy with what I don’t have. I’d been focusing on what I didn’t have in my life and all that was bad in my life - why not instead focus on what’s good in my life? Could you do the same? Remember, what’s bad is always available and so is what’s good - the only question is what are you going to focus on? Will you choose to be happy because the sun was shining, your children are smiling, you have a roof over your head and a warm bed to sleep in? Or will you choose to be grouchy and miserable that you missed your train, you’re late to work and you’ve got work up to your eyeballs? The choice is yours - I know what I’d prefer.

For those who have been taken by the Swine Flu, would their last thoughts have been about the amount of work they had left undone in their jobs? Or would they instead be thinking about how they wish they could have had just one more day with their loved ones, perhaps seen one more sunrise, hugged their parents and kissed their partner one more time? Well, what if when you wake up in the morning, tomorrow is that one more day for you? What will you do differently?

When our lives come to an end, we will not remember every single moment of our lives but we will remember the moments that took our breath away. Our child’s first smile, our first kiss with our partner, that time when we laughed like we’ve never laughed before… that’s what we’ll remember. So why not spend each day looking to create magic moments, moments that take your breath away. After all, all we have is this moment. We don’t know what the future holds - and for the several who have died from the Swine flu, there will be no other moment. There was no tomorrow for them but there is for us. Make it count.