I think that one of the hardest things you can do is to watch someone you care about suffer. Especially when all that you can do is be there for them, comfort them, and try to reassure. That was me a couple of weeks ago when I spent some time with my partner’s mother who, at the beginning of August, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. She is on her end-of-life journey, and it is hard to watch someone who was active lose their independence. And the time I spent with her had me asking: are you living your best life?
Do What Matters
As my partner’s mother struggled at times to breathe (her lungs were filled with fluid), I could tell that she was frustrated. Because she felt like she was a burden (she wasn’t) to her sons because she needed help getting off the sofa, couldn’t dress on her own, couldn’t walk the dog or prepare her own meals (and she loved to cook and bake). She couldn’t do the things that mattered.
The three days I spent in Port Colborne were quiet—away from the hustle and bustle of Toronto. Life slowed down, way down, and in the moments Mrs. F. and I sat together in silence gave me time to reflect on life. Living your best life requires that you know what you want, what you want to achieve, and that you have a plan to work towards it. It requires intention, a willingness to do the work, fail if necessary, and try, try again.
Living Your Best Life
The time to live your best life is now. Not when you retire. Not when you have a certain amount of money in your bank account. And not when everything is perfect. What I’ve learned over the years is that if things aren’t the way you want them to be, then change. Because, as Jim Rohn writes in The Power of Ambition, “If you change, it’ll all change. Don’t put it on someone else or hope that someone else will change your future for you. Take responsibility for yourself. Take personal responsibility.”1
Decide for yourself what living your best life looks like. It could mean being the best parent possible. Maybe it means taking time every day to write the book you always talked about writing. Or it could be finally taking that trip you’ve been planning for. Whatever it is, make sure that you make today count.
And if no one has told you yet today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.
- Rohn, J. (2022). The Power of Ambition: Awakening the Powerful Force Within You, Shippensburg, Nightingale-Conant-Corporation., p. 61. [↩]
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