2012 is Done Over and Gone

2012 is done over and gone. Lots and lots of people are making resolutions. Resolutions to lose weight, to be more patient, to spend more time with the kids…etc. There’s probably a hundred million different resolutions that have been made in the last few days.

I have kind of a unique take on the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. I’ve been reading a book called The 50th Law. It’s the story of the rapper 50 Cent and it is exceptionally compelling. 50 Cent never knew his father. His mother was murdered when he was 8 years old. He grew up on the streets and decided that the only people he knew with money were the dealers so he set out to get his own piece of the action on the streets.

Well, 50 Cent is no dummy. He quickly realized that life expectancy of a dealer was about 21. And a good portion of those that survived went to prison and returned despondent and broken. Later 50 Cent realized that the music industry was no different than the drug trade. There’s always someone using you for their benefit. 50 Cent decided to be his own man; owned by no one – drug dealer or music executive.

Then it happened. A gunman reaches into his car and pumps nine bullets into 50 Cent. Nine bullets from point blank range but he survives. It made him realize how short and tenuous life is. From then on 50 Cent lived fearlessly for what was there to fear? He knew death was coming for him. If not today, then tomorrow or the next day. It was the one implacable enemy that he couldn’t defeat.

And that leads me to the most unique question anyone will ask of you as we start 2013. What would you do this year, in 2013, if you knew that it was your last one on earth? What if you knew that December 31, 2013, 12:59:59pm you will take your last breath?

Of course, there’s a lot of the stuff we’d all do. We’d have a lot of the same reactions. We’d tell all our close family and friends how much we love them. We hug a lot. We’d get up early and watch the sun come up. We’d stay up late drinking wine and laughing with our best friends. We’d walk shoelessly through the grass and get soaked in a summer rain.

That’s all natural and very human. But what would you accomplish with those final 365 days? Isn’t there something you’d want to do that you’ve been putting off? Something you’re afraid to start?

I bet you’d face a lot fears. Why not? What would you have to lose? Time’s quickly running out anyways. Maybe you’d bungee jump. Maybe it’s giving a talk in front of your church group or colleagues at work. Or maybe it’s something like flying in a helicopter.

That’s mine. I’m deathly afraid of helicopters. THERE’S NO WINGS on the damn things. I also afraid to skydive, to fly an airplane and, in some situations, to just be myself [could be some people that might not like me]. And there is a personal situation I’m afraid to resolve. Lots of fears. I’d conquer them all if I knew I had only 365 days to live.

What about you? More than likely you have more than 365 days. But it’s NOT certain. Not at all certain. I’d point to my friends Jeff (43 yrs old) and Bob (37). Both of them figured they had decades.

So what are you going to do today, this month and this year? Why not face one of your fears. Pick just one thing you’d accomplish if you knew you had just 365 days to live and get it done.

Do It – Live Fearlessly – there’s not much time left.