"There's got to be more to life than sittin' here watchin' Days of Our Lives and foldin' your Fruit Of The Looms."

"Paging Mr. Hall, Mr. Jeffrey Hall. This is God's assistant calling. Our records show that you have only five minutes left to live. Please finish up whatever it is you meant to do while you were alive—the things that you thought you would get to someday but never did. Take one last look around and tell the people you care for just how much you really love them—all the things you wanted to say but didn't. Prepare to depart. The meter on your earthly parking space is about to expire." Say WHAT!!!

At some point in our lives, each of us will have just five minutes to live. Our last breath of crisp clean air, the last magnificent sunrise, the last person we touch; the last time we get to make any meaningful contribution to the world may be tomorrow—tonight—this very moment. None of us knows the precise time we will die; but we all know we will. It's a proven fact. In the physical sense, nobody gets out of here alive.

So why is it a lot of us (and you know who you are), live as if we might be the exception? We make other plans, put off important decisions, keep our true feelings to ourselves or temp fate as if we might be able to pull off what the great Houdini could not. Which reminds me, how did he do that underwater escape stuff anyway? I'm thinking mirrors, lots of mirrors...

Now hear me loud and clear: People have been leaving our planet in record numbers for a long, long time. It's true folks! I've done my homework here and it seems that there is a very clear and obvious trend that begins to occur somewhere around the beginning of mankind right up until the present moment—people die—lots of people—all the time! Death is claiming more lives everyday than all diseases put together! Did I say that right?

I'm not making this stuff up! I used a lot of scientific formulas and calculations—this is a very real epidemic. For example, just about everyone born before 1850, with possible exception of a woman in Toledo named Zelda, are dead. They all checked out during the past 200 years. No one has heard from them since—no one! (By the way, word has it that Zelda hangs out a health food store and lives exclusively on yogurt and brown rice. You can expect her new diet book to come out this fall.)

The other interesting thing I've noticed is that all kinds and types of people die. Its not like a lot of things here on earth where the rich or the incredibly good looking have a leg up. No, no, my dear friends, this appears to be happening to everyone regardless of wealth, sex, race, gender or creed. You may live a few years longer if you take good care of yourself— can you say exercise? But, net-net, bottom line—we get old—we wither up—we die. Makes those late night wrinkle cream infomercials seem a little silly doesn't it? Although I still like that Thighmaster thing...

The other day my baby-boomer friend Margaret remarked how concerned she was with the seemingly vast numbers of people in her life who were either dying or were deathly ill. "It's a weird feeling," she said. "I never thought people my age would just get old and die like everyone else. I've always thought of myself as young." "But lately," she continued, "when I look in the mirror I see more and more of my mother's face every day. Do you know what I mean?"

Well, not exactly, I thought. I mean, I looked in the mirror the other day, but damned if I could see her mother's face. I did, however, see the face of some middle aged, balding guy with more new hair growing in his ears than on his head. This guy—who looked a whole lot like my father—scared the hell out of me! Who was that dude?

My purpose here is not to bring everybody down with a thousand words of the obvious. But, rather, I hope to put a subtle foot—or perhaps a not-so-subtle foot—up the butts of those of us who think we can continue to waste time and put off until tomorrow what we know we should be doing with our lives, today. You know, the important things—the things that really matter? The things that gnaw inside of you and keep you awake at night. No, I'm not talking about that fourth slice of pizza you inhaled at 11:00pm. I'm talking about your future, your destiny, your legacy—your life! Hellooooo!!!

Are we tuned into the same channel here? Can you hear me-over? I'm talking of the things you've always wanted to try? The things or thing you always knew you could be? Or maybe it's something special and loving that you've always wanted to say to another human being but were just plain afraid to let it out. My uncle Fred always wanted to tell my aunt Stella how much he adored that little black mustache that developed over her upper lip. It was kind of like one of those "Got Milk?" commercials, only for the chocolate variety. She sort of looked a little bit like Groucho Marx. Used to scare us kids half to death! Strange guy my uncle Fred...

It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Everybody has them; dreams, I mean. You know; your deepest desires—the things, that if you only had five minutes to live, you would want to run right out and do them. Some of us will connect with our dreams and live our bliss, while others of us will take them to the grave. Grave. I'm talking 6 feet under—Gonesville—DEAD! I looked up "dead" in the dictionary. It means DEAD!

I've come to believe that every song unsung—every life half lived—in some way, shape or form, damages all of mankind. Every potter who gives up the wheel because the world demanded a more responsible career; Every poet who timidly keeps her words to herself because way back in high school someone made fun of her; Every dancer who hides the rhythm in his feet because his college buddies might think he's something less than macho; Every women who gives up on being a mom because she thinks time has passed her by and on and on, on and on. The clock is ticking—tic-tock, tic-tock. Do I have your attention yet??

Do me a favor, OK? Sometime today—don't put it off until tomorrow—get quiet and still. Kick the dog out of the bathroom if you have to, but find a quiet place where you can just set and think for an hour or so. Soak in the tub, relax in the garden, get away from the kids if you have them and find a little peace of heaven where you can just shut down and relax.

Now, close your eyes and try to pretend it's your eightieth birthday. A party has been held in your honor. Present, are all of your closest friends, family and acquaintances. Hey, you can even pretend they still have their teeth!

Everyone has been asked to stand up before the group and speak of your specific accomplishments and how you have personally impacted their lives and the lives of others. What will each person say? What would you like for them to say? Will you be proud of what you've done with your eighty-years or disappointed in yourself?

Pretty heady stuff, eh? But, when you really stop and think about it, our legacy is really the only thing we can leave behind. It's the footprint that says, "I was here" long after we are not. Building a legacy is no small task. It begins by living our purpose and making the most of every minute of every day. Stephen Covey likes to say, "Begin with the end in mind." I think that's a good way to look at it. Begin with where you want to end up in life and then work backwards; making choices that will take you to the destination you desire.

You see, just as there was a beginning to our physical life, there is also an end to our earthly existence, when our souls will be reborn into a new life in another dimension. Whether your day to depart the planet is five minutes or five decades from now really doesn't matter. What does matter, is that you recognize that your time here on earth is very limited and in relationship to eternity, is about as short as the gap between two words in a paragraph—dash, comma, period—the end!

Whatever it is you plan to do during your brief visit here, do it now. Turn up a little Bonnie Rait and let her words really sink in, "Time gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste." Yes Bonnie, it does. Life's parking meter is indeed running and eventually we will all be out of time. Hey! Anybody got an extra quarter?

Some Things To Consider

Pretend for a moment that you have only five minutes to live. What is the first thing that pops into your mind? Focus on only that thing and understand that whatever it is, it is the key to discovering how every minute of your time here on earth should be spent. Now, what do you plan to do about it?

All Rights Reserved © 2002 By Jeffrey Alan Hall