An eerie aura hangs over final moments.
A person’s final breath.
One last hug with an old friend you may never see again.
The last look of your apartment before moving.
Every day wouldn’t matter if we lived eternally. That’s why we have to make every day count.
Last actions matter because they mark the start of a new era. It’s a form of closure.
Eulogies spit remembrances of the dead, while graduations celebrate closings and the unknown life ahead.
Both represent life changing forever.
When COVID-19 ravaged the United States, no one was ready. At one point, more than 90 percent of the U.S. lived under sweeping restrictions which friends and family we could meet.
Humanity has faced never-seen problems as the virus and government’s reaction disabled life as we knew it.
Understandably, people are frustrated. Thirty-six million Americans don’t have jobs, means of income to feed families and keep a roof over their heads, that may cease to exist once lockdowns are lifted.
The last few months ripped the fabric of humanity: how we mourn the dead, celebrate life, and plan the future.
There’s plenty to complain about, but little that is useful.
You can use the mental marker of “lasts” to highlight small goals every day. Long-term goals are menacing, such as your career five-years in the future, when we don’t know which companies will survive COVID-19.
But we can prepare. It’s more useful to focus on what we can control.
Daily habits build the foundation of our life: when we wake up, how we spend our 24 hours, and whether we plan for the future or focus on today.
We can design today to reach goals.
We can push ourselves a lot harder than we believe: in the gym, outside our comfort level, and at work.
You’ll never get to redo today. So treat it like your last.