Actually, Just Live While You Can

What does living while you can mean? Usually, we interpret this as being fully in the moment at all times, yielding to every whim, recklessly taking every opportunity or risk. However, it doesn’t have to be this reductive (and dangerously regrettable).

It can be more about tending to what’s important. And that differs from person to person. What brings you peace and what brings you joy? Are you caring for your needs and for your wants, in such a way that you can accomplish fulfillment? Do you give enough attention to what you value most and to what deserves it?

There’s a popular saying that can be applied to this. Essentially, they say something along the lines that the only two people that you should try to impress and make proud are the 8-year-old you, who looks forward, and the 80-year-old you, who looks backward. How well are you doing at that? Are you pleasing the version who’s filled with wonder and the version who’s overflowing with revelations?

Your life is more than just your present; it is also your past and your future, and all that interconnects. This means that being thoughtful and considerate is part of what constitutes living without regrets. This can be paralyzing sometimes, trapping in needless fears and worries, and that’s something to watch out for, but shouldn’t be entirely dismissed.

There is peace, joy, and fulfillment in bothering to take into account what must be. The problem arises when you neglect your present for it.

Furthermore, others may get a say in how it goes, but you do as well. If you’re completely handing over the script of your life to somebody else, or to traditions, trends, or predictions, are you really living your life? Certainly, you can learn from them and implement what sits right with you (or what is imperative), but you lose the plot when it wholly dictates what you do and don’t do.

And what about your growth? Isn’t it amazing that you get to come to this place to explore, experience, experiment, express, and expand? You literally start with a set of talents and capabilities and can, from there, decide what sort of knowledge you will be collecting and what sort of skills you will be developing, reaching higher and higher levels throughout your entire lifetime. Overlooking this and getting stuck, stagnating at the bottom, does seem like a waste.

Ultimately, you could live so fully that it makes a positive and constructive difference, not only on you, but on those around you - or even coming after. And that’s something that, at least to some, makes life worth striving for.

Reclaim your life. Live it responsibly, but live it.