YOLO

If I took the time to read every unread book I have in my possession, be it hard cover or virtual, I would have reading material for the rest of my life and then some. It is a huge challenge for me to fight the urge to buy a new book, especially when I read a tantalizing review and, who knows, I may cave and purchase this one. However, whether I do or not, the review of Death by Living:  Life is Meant to be Spent by N.D. Wilson challenged me to look forward to the years I have left and to live them judiciously.

YOLO is an acronym for You Only Live Once, a popular attitude in today's hedonistic society.  As popular as this mentality is in our self-serving world, (and I am guilty of exercising it in self-service more often than I care to admit), it encourages me to remember to live in service to others as well.

Our journey through cancer has resulted in an inordinate amount of time being spent on self and I'm ready to be finished with that.  It's time to re-focus and to be constantly aware of how I am investing the time I have left as I move toward life's finish line. 

Brett McCracken, the reviewer of this book, chooses his words well:  "Death is not a shadow to be feared or an abstraction to be put out of our minds.  Rather, it is a part of God's creational good, a beautiful reminder of the brevity of breath and the urgency of life." I didn't have to reach 74 years of age to realize that I began my march toward death from my first breath of life but a reminder now and then is a good thing.

The author of the book, N.D. Wilson, sums up the thesis of his book when he says, "I am a man attempting to paint another picture of the same wonderful world, but I have turned my easel around. I've taken my best shot at the sunrise. Now for the sunset."  Age aside, we would all do well to examine how we are investing the gift of life with which we've been blessed.

(I feel a new book coming on.)

On the health front:

Good news and not-so-good news.  The not-so-good news is that today I must go in for another Nasty Shot but the good news is that I will get my final chemo treatment tomorrow.

I'm more than ready for whatever comes my way.