When I first read Michael Bungay Stanier‘s Today’s Brilliance, I was surprised to see the date of his death included. “September 15, 2043 is the big date”, according to Michael and his statistical analysis, predicting the exact date of his death.
Seeing it in writing stopped me in my tracks. If we could know the exact day of our demise… would you want to know? While it might be great for financial planning, how would knowing the date affect the quality of the days we have here to LIVE?
I have friends that have gone to Nadi astrological readers in India and believe that they know the exact time and circumstances of their death. Take a moment and wrap your head around that one for a moment…. to know the exact time of your passing, months, or even years in advance…. how would that change your life?
If you believed without a doubt that you had only 50 years remaining, how differently would you live your life? What about 10 years or 6 months or 3 days? At what point does life become precious?
When you break it down into moments, things suddenly get more real. Insurmountable problems now seem insignificant. Appreciating the sound of the falling rain becomes more important than losing sleep over what might happen in the future. We fill our days with fun and happiness instead of worry. Each moment has a magic quality to it that wasn’t there just a second before.
Go enjoy today, knowing that this could be your last day, your last Monday, your last February, your last year, or the start of your last decade. I’m not suggesting we get morbid about this, but rather, pause and cherish what otherwise might be something we so easily take for granted.
What great work do we still have inside of us just waiting to be birthed? Go do it! Regrets on our deathbed are usually things that we didn’t do, not things that we did. Take action. Live now. Cherish this very moment. Breathe. Smile. Then go live your life.
Time is ticking so you better start living- and the time to start is right now!
p.s. In getting ready to post this blog I shared it with my family. My husband and I are in Florida with my parents, my daughter and son-in-law and also my granddaughter. With four generations here, this was an interesting topic.
If you could know the time of your passing, would you want to know? Please share your answer with me below. Tell me your age and either YES, I’d want to know, or NO, thanks. I’ll combine the answers and post them here in a follow up blog. Thanks for your response. Now go enjoy your day!
Hi, Yes I would like to know, I’m 44yrs
Yes I would – Age 47. Thanks and you have a nice day too!
Age 46 YES
This is really interesting so far… all who have commented here said YES. I asked the same question on Twitter and so far 100% have said NO!
If you’re comfortable sharing more, please tell us why you feel YES or NO. Thank you!
I greatly appreciate your willingness to discuss this topic. It’s brought up a lot of discussion in our home this morning. Thanks again!
Hugs,
Gail
I said yes because I worry far too much and it would be a relief to know and get things in perspective,and so not waste time worrying
I would want to know. I’m 32
Hi Gail,
I just saw you post on Twitter and I absolutely would not want to know, ever! Age 31.
I would be stressed out knowing that my time is coming and thinking about all I have to accomplish and if I will have enough time. It would be the ultimate deadline that I know I wouldn’t miss. I’m stressed even thinking about it right now.
Hi Gail and all others 🙂
No, I really wouldn’t want to know.
Don’t think I would want to know many things in my future, what would be the fun then? 🙂
Ciao for now
yes i really would like to know.
But even more, i want to spend my lifetime living for God. Thanks for asking, im quite enlightened! thanks!
ooops, im 20 years old. <3
I would not want to know. I want to live each moment in my life to the fullest. Somethings in life are not meant to be known until they happen. Why would you want that stress?
Absolutely Not! I live each day like it was my last.
I wouldn’t want to know, unless I’m going to ruin someone’s wedding day, then I’d like God to please give me a “rain check”! My life, and all it’s entirety, are in God’s will; therefore I would not like to know.
However, if I’m 85 do you think it may be closer??? I started about 6 yrs preparing spiritually to meet with grace & a head held high my maker; I just turned 50 this past summer! So, if you wanna “live like a Roman, but die as a Christian”; not sure if that works!
Thank you for the intriguing question.xx
No. Firstly, Doctors and technology haven’t always proven to be 100% accurate. Secondly, even if their data is valid, there are many health unrelated ways my life on Earth will meet its end. Nadi astrological readings could help me if I believed in fortune tellers, in which case I would probably live my life as I do until I begrudgingly approach that date as I do any other deadline. Truly I need to change my way of thinking and begin incorporating an old proverb into my life: “Live each day to the FULLEST, as if it was your last!”
-“CheeryOs” (Age 23)
Yes, I would love to know! I’m 63 and intend to live to be 93, but it would be very nice to know for sure and have my finances, housework and everything else, all settled. I do try to live as though each day is the last day, but the truth is that I don’t really expect it every day. My dear mother, now passed away, used to say that every morning when she woke up she looked outside and appreciated the fact that it might be the last morning she’d have. One morning it was, but she was nearly always happy and so am I!
Tina, I love this, thank you! I think I would have enjoyed your mother immensely too. 🙂
[…] If You Could Know The Date of Your Death, Would You Want To Know? […]
No way do I want to know the day of my death. Only God knows that anyway. Live each day as it comes and be thankful.
yes,i want im 34
Yes I would want to know. I am 16. I think it would be fascinating. Death is not the worse thing that can happen to us, you know? Knowing the exact date and time you die would make the world even more special. As far as I am concerned I only have one life to live. I wouldn’t spend my life lagging around thinking “Oh, I have more time,”. No I would accomplish everything my mind could think of, live my life without the fear of it being taken away any seconds. And at the end of my life I could embrace death’s arrival on a good note knowing it was coming and having the knowledge that I could look back on my lifetime and say “I did that right.”
I am 42 and I believe I would want to know. I would rather know how my multiple sclerosis would progress, but knowing my death date would allow me not to put things off like I tend to do and have regrets. I am sure I would be far more anxious, however, I think it would give me more motivation to do what is on my bucket list. Great question by the way.
All have maximum 100 years to live, so what is your age right now? minus it from 100 and this is the maximum time you will be alive
Still people do not believe it…
The day and hour you are going to die does not matter, what really matters is not to forget that there will be a second in a minute when you will breath your last breath in this world, and that is a defining moment of your eternal existence. Therefore live the present moment in the presence of the one who gave you the life you did not choose to have, and be at peace with your fellow human beans, but above all , LOVE, with the true meaning of LOVE, if you find the true meaning of LOVE you will no longer be who you are now and you will not care about the day you are going to die, because you will have found a blissful eternity.
NO!! Why spoil the surprise, would you honestly rush to the last chapter of the book, what if you where disappointed by the final chapter? There are something’s we just shouldn’t know if you want true 100% freedom then lift the mill stone of knowledge from around your neck and simply live it doesnt matter for how long tempus fugit 🙂
Hi Gail. Great question. I am a new author and currently writing a book on this topic. I have been doing a lot of research on this and have found the responses to be evenly split. My intent is the book is to show the positive and the negative side of this question. Central message is to live your life knowing that someday you will die. Accomplish what you want to accomplish despite the odds, because as one of your respondents indicated, on your deathbed, you will not consider so much what you have done but what you have not accomplished. Thanks for inspiring so many. We all need inspiration right now and always. My best.
Terry