Friday, April 15, 2011
He said I was in my early forties With a lot of life before me When a moment came that stopped me in my tracks We spent most of the next days Looking at the x-rays Talking about the options And talking about sweet time. I asked him when it sank in That this might be the real end How's it hit you when you get that kind of news Man, what'd you do? He said I went skydiving I went rocky mountain climbing I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu And I loved deeper And I spoke sweeter And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying And he said someday I hope you get the chance To live like you were dying. He said I was finally the husband That most the time I wasn't I became a friend a friend would like to have And all the sudden going fishing Wasn't such an imposition And I went three times that year I lost my dad He said I finally read the Good Book and I took a good long hard look At what I'd do if I could do it all again And then I went skydiving I went rocky mountain climbing I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu And I loved deeper And I spoke sweeter And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying And he said someday I hope you get the chance To live like you were dying. Live like tomorrow was a gift And you got eternity to think about what you'd do with it What did you do with it? Well what could you do with it? Yeah what would you do with it? He said someday I hope you get the chance To live like you were dying. -Tim McGraw; "Live Like You Were Dying" I think this song speaks volumes if we'll let it. So many times we hear things like this, see things like this, and get a mini wake up call, a glimpse of the way things could be, should be... But to have this, we are required to change. A change in thinking. And that requires a change in our actions. And that requires discipline. And that requires diligence. It is my prayer that we no longer just let wake up calls occur and then remain the same -- stagnant. It's time we truly believed that today could be our last day... Because the truth is, death happens whether or not we are ready. Let today be your wake up call. One of these days, tomorrow won't come.
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I tend to go back and forth on the whole "live like you were dying" lifestyle. Firstly I strongly believe we started dying the moment we were born, therefore I always have the thought that I am dying so I make decisions based on that. But what really confuses me is people who go crazy and don't take life seriously because "anything could happen tomorrow". And as true as that is, it is also true that we need to become educated, stay safe, make rational decisions and do things in life that we're not always going to want to do but we need to in order to survive. No we shouldn't take things for granted and we should stop to smell the flowers every now and then, but if we live life as one big party because "tomorrow may not come" then we've sold ourselves short on following career goals and growing into a mature responsible adult.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: In no way am I saying that because you posted this song you just want to party and live life to the fullest. My comment is referring to the several people I know who choose to partake in illegal and dangerous activities because they want to "live like they're dying" and that's the part that I think takes away the true meaning of that statement. Great song! :)
I am glad someone posted this song! Your input was great, a good wakeup call. The reason I love this song is because on my way hour drive home from skydiving, it came on the radio. I don't want to say it was a "sign".. but it was a good feeling. I have a so-called bucket-list, and I was overjoyed with happiness when I was able to mark skydiving and bullriding off of the list in red marker (it looks similiar to a hit-list!)
ReplyDeleteI think this song is a good representation of saying how we shouldn't save things that we want to do, when we are on our death bed. Life is short, and we should hopefully have plenty of time to do all of the things we want to do. Don't let it be too late... don't wait for a wakeup call!
I've always really loved this song just because I knew that it was based off of real-life and actual experiences that the McGraw family went through. This song in particular was a product of the reaction Tim had when hearing the news that his father Tug had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Without a doubt this is a situation that would be devastating at best to any family. However, when someone in the spotlight goes through something like this so publicly it almost gives a level of comfort to other people knowing they can somehow relate. On that note, I think it takes an extremely self-assured person to really live their life knowing each day is their last. We all get so caught up in the day to day monotony that it becomes so easy and almost routine to take things for granted. This is not to say that we should wait until we are in a terminal state to really understand what life means, but it does put things in perspective. This song really exemplifies a great lesson that we could all strive to work for.
ReplyDeleteGreat song Kacey. I love this song because of what it means to live like you were dying. It doesn't necessarily mean to go do all kinds of crazy things. One of my favorite lines in the song is "And I loved deeper And I spoke sweeter And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying" To me that is what it means to live like you were dying. To live every day like it could be your last is to love and forgive and not hold on to silly things that make us hate each other.
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