Life is not a dress rehearsal

There is an often-used expression that we take for granted….

“Life if not a dress rehearsal [1]”

But what does it mean?

Generally, and depending on your own belief structure, we will only have one shot at this life. That is, it is not a practice run. Therefore we need to make every day count.

I was recently speaking with a friend following the recent loss of a mutual friend, who had battled with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma for a number of years. Our conversation then turned to another friend who has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of Lymphoma.

While my heart goes out to the family and friends of those affected, it got me thinking about the frailty of life.

As I started to think about this, and with the benefit of experience, I wondered what advice I would give to myself if I were 20 years younger. An interesting thought….

This is something we could all do and perhaps our list might look something like this:

Spend more time with our family, and particularly with children as they are growing up;

• Be committed to, but not overly consumed with, work;
• Invest time in building good friendships;
• Develop passions and interests outside of work;
• Commit to lifelong learning, and learn new skills;
• Manage the household budget and live within our means;
• Save more money in super;
• Volunteer or get involved with our community;
• Exercise, eat good food, and take care of our health;
• Take good advice from friends we respect, and from professional advisers, and
• Floss every day!
• What advice you would give yourself?

We must live each day to the fullest. Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today.

You see, we don’t know how long we have on this Earth. Each day is precious but we don’t build up credits for the extra minutes, hours or days we don’t use. Once each one of the 1440 minutes we have each day is passed, it is gone, never to be available again.

So, what are you going to do today? How will you be using your time to get maximum benefit for yourself, your loved ones, and your broader community?

[1] This expression has been used on many occasions but the first recorded use appears to have been made by Lawrence T Holman, Pastor of the Church of the Nazarene, Covina, California who used it as the title of a sermon delivered in May 1953.