Monday, September 18, 2006

We only get one life to do with as we please...

“I had it all. Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles and imperfections, proof they were crafted by the honest, simple, hard-working indigenous peoples of... wherever. It’s only after we’ve lost everything, that we’re free to do anything.” – Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

Lately, I seem to run across more and more people discussing the “honoring of their commitments”. It’s usually said with an ounce of dread. Commitments to whom? Instead of making me feel more responsible, it tends to remind me that each life is our own. It’s the only thing we really own without sharing it with another. No mortgage on your bones. No personal sense of despair after you lose your last breath.

What will be the one thing you wish you’d done before you die? Come on… just one. - DN

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's my husband's dream to sail around the world. Just abandoning our culture of materialistic wastefulness and unhealthy living for a life of adventure. Exploring other places and knowing other people and getting in tune with God's creation and understanding how we fit in to it. To raise our children "off the beaten path" so to speak, eating curry instead of chicken nuggets; experiencing the rhythm of nature instead of watching TV and getting bloated on selfishness. The dream has become mine too. More so, because I love him so much it is my dream to make sure he gets to live his dream. One is never sure where death is waiting so we are planning to do it sooner than later.

Anonymous said...

Wishing you had done something or the other, is a waste of time. Doing it now when you need to is a better option. Looking at your life with no regrets is better than torturing yourself on what I wish I had done.

Anonymous said...

Well, the only dream I had until last june was to drive from NY to Montana, staying on the interstates, eating and drinking in gas stations, sleeping when we (my husband and I) can't keep our eyes open! enjoying like kids to go accross St louis, Kansas city, cincinatti, sundance, taking pics of the Missouri or Mississipi rivers from bridges, listening to american radio and visit the metropolitan museum in NY, and the Wyeth exhibition in Philadelphia plus the Custer's last stand on the Crow reservation...and Chicago, and the big lakes on the way back (could'nt find the time to go to Lowel MA to visit Jack K.!shame)...And now back in France, I just feel depressed...Yes we did it...but we want more...OK, before I die, I would like to come back to Big Sky country and ride a horse (in a western way, you know?)...but the thing I would like to do the most before I die, is to set my children free, giving them the possibility of making their own dreams come true.
Elaine

Nicholas Wineman said...

that's the great thing about being 17, I realise there's much to miss, but my goal in life is to simply to live the rest without regrets. easy as that.

danielnorth.com said...

I may need to clarify my point. It's the importance of always looking forward and striving for change and accomplishment, so we don't become stagnant and end-up with the question of "what-if". Figure out what WILL be that one thing you wish you had done... and do it now. - DN

Anonymous said...

Become a grandparent, but hey, I've got no control over that!