IF WE CAN LEARN
HOW TO DIE, WE’LL
KNOW HOW TO LIVE

THERE ARE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SELF-HELP BOOKS ON the market, thousands of hours of audio and video recordings to impart life wisdom, nonstop “how-to-live” YouTube videos, and entire TV networks devoted to inspiration. Never before in human history have so many people been ready to discover their purposes in life.

But you don’t need a complicated system to get you on your way. It’s simple, and by now you may have guessed. The best preparation for living well is to be prepared to die at any time. As we discussed, imminent death inspires clarity of purpose, a rearranging of what really matters. How many times have you heard of people having near-death experiences and then making radical changes in their lives? From where they live and work, to whom they spend time with, to what takes priority, it all suddenly has a different meaning.

Whether it is a health scare or a terrifying plane ride, if you’ve ever waited for those test results to come back or for that turbulence to even out, those moments in between can feel like eternity. You question everything. And when you get the good news and the plane safely touches down, you are grateful and swear to live differently. Why not pledge to live better right now? Choose to be fully alive, purposeful, and loving today.

If we learn how to die, we’ll know how to live; if we learn how to live, we’ll know how to die.

I’m reminded of a short video I watched online called “When I Die: Lessons from the Death Zone.” Google it; it’s worth your time! It chronicles the inspiring last couple of weeks of a terminally ill man named Philip Gould. There is one thing in particular he says during the video that jumped out at me:

It’s only when they say, “Philip Gould, you’re going to die. Get used to it. And this is going to happen in weeks or months.” It’s only when that happens that you’re aware of death. And only when that happens also that suddenly life screams at you with its intensity.²

I want you to read that last part again: “suddenly life screams at you with its intensity.”

We all have an amazing ability to overlook the intensity of our everyday lives. We get wrapped up in what we mistakenly call the mundane, the grind, the everydayness of life.

In the classic Walker Percy novel The Moviegoer, the main character, Binx Bolling, claims to be on a loosely defined “search” in life. “What is the nature of the search?” he asks in the book. “The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life.”³

What are you searching for? Maybe it’s a search for meaning, for an answer, for a solution to a problem you know you’re equipped to solve. What is standing in the way of your search? Are you getting so bogged down in the day-to-day minutiae of your life that you overlook the power of each moment? Your search is your purpose. Remind yourself of it daily. Remember that it’s the little things that add up to the big picture. Do not wait for impending death to light the fire of action inside yourself. Act today. Start small. There are opportunities hiding in the “day-to-day.”

How long does it take to discover your purpose in life? Believe it or not, twenty minutes! Remember, we are short on time, so we have to hurry. So be open to this. You must expect it to work; then it will.

1. Get a blank sheet of paper. Title it, “My Purpose in Life.”

2. Start writing. Right now. Write. Write all you can. Words, phrases, complete sentences. Just write. Don’t stop. Write some more.

3. Repeat step two until you get the answer that makes you either cry or jump up and down with excitement. Condense it into one sentence. This is your purpose.

Here is my purpose, condensed down to one sentence:

The purpose of my life is to touch hearts that are hurting, enjoy laughter, and create permanent abundance for others and myself in a most joyful and playful way, while feeling like a “giggle.”

Discovering your purpose may be the easy part. The hard part is keeping it in front of you daily to the point where it drives you continuously.

This Native American proverb sums it up best: “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.”