Life is too short

In April my ex-husband passed away after a very short battle with cancer. It’s an unusual expression –  to ‘battle’ with cancer. There was no battle. The cancer was cunning. It arrived unannounced and spread its evil through his body without fanfare. By the time he was aware that he was under attack, it was too late. It was short and brutal and devastating. He was only 54 and he has left behind our three beautiful, very young adult children to try to come to terms with a chasmal loss that they don’t yet fully appreciate.

Life is too short.

That’s another unusual expression, which I have for far too long been using all wrong. I have used it too casually, too dismissively, too loosely. I have used it as a throw-away line to explain why I am doing something quite inconsequential that really has very little importance to anyone or anything – such as— I’m going to eat this donut because ‘life’s too short’.

For mine, it’s time to pay greater respect to the expression. Life is too short. In way too many ways that have absolutely nothing at all to do with eating donuts. Life is too short to the point where we need to focus exactly on what is most important to us and those we most love because frankly, life is too short not to do exactly that.

So, I’m making some changes.

Life is too short – so I’m going to:

Love my kids every single minute

Swim every day

Stand up for myself

Eat lollies (not donuts)

Set and smash audacious goals

Do one incredible ‘first for me’ every year

Focus on the right things at the right time

Get 10 hours of sleep every night

Have a weekly massage

Exercise daily

Stay out of email

Say No when I might otherwise have said Yes

Say Yes when I might otherwise have said No

Charge what I’m worth

Stop spending money on stuff I don’t need

Declutter, simplify and streamline

Stop caring who will take the bins out

Unplug

Stop investing my precious time on the wrong tasks

Stop investing my precious time on the wrong people

Reject being complacent

Embrace being courageous

Focus on what makes me happy

Stop sweating the small stuff

Stop sweating some of the big stuff

Ensure I don’t tread water waiting for something better to come along

Forego vacuuming

Focus on my mental health

Spend winter in the sun because I don’t like being cold

Be grateful

Be curious

Hang with my kids exactly when they want to hang

Value my values

Work less and less and play more and more

Get rid of the clothes I never wear

Spend a lot of time with my dad

Honour my posse of awesome women

Climb mountains

Buy an amazing apartment in the city which has 2 bedrooms which then semi-forces my kids to move out and start living their best lives (in their own houses)

Tell my kids that I love them every single day even when they are shitting me

Never hold grudges

Check for lumps

Read every day

Travel

Let go of possessions that no longer bring me joy

Cuddle and kiss my kids every chance I get

Stop feeling guilty for choosing takeaway over cooking

De-vest in toxic people

Spend time with my beautiful sisters

Lie under the doona all day watching movies when the mood strikes

Swear

Stop living my second best life and start living my best life

Help other people design and live their best lives

Life is simply too short to do otherwise.

Written by Kate Christie.