Two years ago, my friend David was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. One week, he seemed to be well. The next, he was fighting for his life in a way that affected everything he did. He ate differently. He slept differently. He sought the help of experts and studied every book he could get his hands on. It was a very serious situation and it spilled out into all parts of his life. I watched closely as he faced it head on, no excuses or complaints – just a ton of action that would give him the very best shot at living.
I’m grateful to say that David was one of the lucky ones. He won his battle and today, he’s cancer free. But the process marked him in a profound and enviable way. Since then, I swear I’ve never seen anyone approach a day with more boldness, resolve and focus. He’s constantly pushing himself and anyone around him beyond the boundaries of what’s expected and easy. He doesn’t just take life as it comes…He works at living well.
One day, we were talking about his journey and transformation over lunch. I told him I’d never personally witnessed a bigger change in someone’s life. He laughed and said, “It took me almost dying to get serious about living.”
I let the words linger for a second before I replied. “I like that. What do you mean?”
He took a breath and chose his words carefully, like he knew he was teaching me something I couldn’t know.
“Chance…Cancer catapulted me out of my comfort zone. There was no way I could play it safe. I couldn’t sit back on the couch and watch tv. I couldn’t allow a to-do list, or even the people I love to distract me. I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening or hope it would go away and everything would just get better. There was no room to procrastinate. I had to act – I had to move. I was required to fight for my future. I mean, if I wanted to live – if I felt like there was more for me, I had to take massive action. Otherwise, I might as well just give up and get to dying. There’s no in between when your life is at stake.”
We sat there in silence for a minute as I tried to soak in his words and wisdom. After a while, he leaned in and said, “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever faced, but it taught me things I never knew about how life should be lived…What I know now is if we’re not out on the edge of our comfort zone, doing and becoming, instead of just planning and talking about what we’re gonna do, we’ll miss it.”
He paused and thought for a minute, then said something I’ll never forget. “We’ve gotta be as serious about living as we’d be about dying.”
In the months since, the word “serious” has taken on a new meaning in my life. It’s become a filter for my dreams and plans. I find myself looking at my goals and even my daily To Do List asking, “Is this a serious list…or am I distracting myself from harder, but more important work? Is there something here that reaches beyond my comfort zone, or am I playing it safe?”
If you’ve got a heartbeat, chances are good you carry a hope inside for something that feels bigger than you. It might be about your health, a relationship, your career, your legacy or any number of things.
We all know the weight of that kind of hope. Sometimes it can keep us from trying. We tell ourselves we’ll work on it another day…when we can give it the time it deserves. But that day never comes. We never do. Instead we busy our lives with lesser things, telling ourselves lies about what’s possible and what isn’t.
It’s so easy to get “too busy” and once we do, we have what we think are legitimate excuses for why we don’t live the lives we were meant to.
It’s time to decide if we’re going to wish and wait for life to unfold the way we hope it will, or if that hope we carry is worth treating “seriously”.
Because if we’re serious, it will require us to move beyond the safety of our current, comfortable lives. We have to act – we have to move. If we feel like there’s more for us, we’ve got to fight for it. No excuses or complaints – just a ton of action that would give us our very best shot at living.
No more playing small. Life is so very short – and it’s getting shorter with every breath.
The hope I carry is that I’ll write something that will last beyond my lifetime – something that will help many people, even generations to come. And I’ve decided that I’m serious about it, uncomfortable as the road ahead may be.
What do you hope for?
Is it enough to simply dream about it, or are you serious?
How do you personally procrastinate and avoid the hard work it requires?
What’s something that would make it more of a possibility or reality?
Go do that thing. Start today…or start again today.
Let’s be as serious about living as we’d be about dying.
This Post Has 18 Comments
Comments are closed.
Great job Chance! Love your stuff! His story and the way you share it is incredibly motivating and contagious.
This post inspired me, and your friend is absolutely right, we need to get serious about living, because too many of us make excuses to live the life we really want to live.
A lot of people will make a statement, “I am not afraid to die”. We seem to associate not fearing death with a sense of bravery. How is that brave? Who cares if you are afraid to die or not it’s going to happen to you anyways.
We should be saying, “I am not afraid to live.” Because many of us skip out on that part and just go through the redundancy of getting by in life. Like your friend, David said, it took him until he almost died to really start living. It’s okay to be afraid of death, but cannot fear our ability to live, because that is all we really have.
Perfectly said.
Chance,
You seriously rock!
You’re seriously kind! :)
Hi, Chance,
Thank you for beautifully writing this piece. I too experienced cancer and it rocked my world then – happy to report I have been healed going on 12 years now. It was life-changing and made me face my fear of “death” by “living” each day to its fullest. We only have a blip of time here on this earth. I hope I leave a legacy to the next generation and beyond of a life well lived. It is about commitment to living each day on purpose. Love you Chance – Claudia
Thankful for the very happy ending! And I feel sure your legacy is secure. I’ve seen you in action. :)
Your words are always filled with great wisdom. You may not reap worldly benefits from what you do here in this blog, but I assure you that you do reach and help people in ways you may only know when your number is up. Blessings Chance.
Nothing would make me happier…except maybe to also know while we’re still here. ;) Thankful for the opportunity to share and that people keep reading.
Thanks Chance,
A very mind opening article, it’s like an awakening from a snap of life at the count of three. Thank you so much for sharing this.
This is one of my favorite comments of all time…The snap of three! What a great comparison. Really meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for the encouragement.
Thanks for this awesome article Chance! There’s no doubt in my mind that you WILL write something lasting for others because this article alone is an example of what you’re capable of. Not many people have the writing style that flows so smoothly and captivates as you can.
I had a similar experience when I was 19 years old as your friend David, but not as serious as cancer. A was told by a doctor to change my lifestyle or die. I was not addicted to drugs. I’m was and am a type-1 diabetic. This made me look at life very differently, with a new purpose. Today I am a blessed man with more to be thankful for than I have time to write about it.
May you be blessed and continue to write as you do. Thanks!
Very kind words, Bruce. Thank you for your encouragement. It means more than you know. Genuine thanks.
Thanks for sharing your story with the rest of us too. We need as many examples of overcomers as possible.
Chance,
I loved this post.
What do I hope for?
I hope one day to be able to look back on my life and say that I have lived a life worth living. That I have loved those worth loving (which is everyone), have done things worth doing (which is everything), been places worth going to (which is everywhere). I can be done in by lack of confidence or lack of hope. It’s so easy to be waylaid by these things and yet the difference in me, paralyzed or not, seems so small when I’m able to look at it from a distance rather than during those times where I succumb. Your friend’s lesson is so valuable – it’s the same me in both of these circumstances, what’s holding me back? Lack of hope that it will make a difference? What I take away from your friend’s story is that I need to be there, where decision and action are always better than surrendering to paralysis. Paralysis or lack of hope may not kill me today as it might have your friend had he succumbed to it but it will certainly cheat me of my hopes. That seems stupidly obvious to me as I re-read that last sentence, letting lack of hope cheat me out of my hopes.
Beautifully and thoughtfully written, John. Thanks for sharing what so many others feel, but wouldn’t take the time to write.
I’ve been influenced by most of your articles. I actually think my opening statement comes from one of your blogs, I’d have to go look. Glad you do this, there are not enough positive influences out there on people dealing with daily struggles.
Hey, Chance!! Well that’s SERIOUS-ly excellent!! And I’m stoked by it, in my sons’ words! Beyond all the fun and frolic and joy in the lighter side of things, this gal is VERY serious. So you’re speaking my language.
Perhaps that’s why, when God gives me something I’m all over it. Right away, as a rule. So much so that people look at my dust trail and say “Whaaat?” Not just small daily decisions but some of the biggest decisions involving the greatest ‘risks’.
By God’s grace, I’ve sought to live my whole life as though there wasn’t a moment to waste.
Not sure why that sooo goes against the grain of our society, but, well, whatever. I’ve never been the norm. And life has been heaven on earth!!! In sooo many ways.
That said, the procrastination ‘hook’ hasn’t missed me. Thanks for this amazing dose of the reality we live every day and so easily miss. REALLY appreciate your particular embrace of life!!
I LOVED reading this whole thing, but especially…”And life has been heaven on earth!!! In sooo many ways.”
Inspiring. You make me wanna be really “unnormal”.