Last Day on Earth™ – Until the Next One
Painting by Marketseq
“Aim at heaven, and you will get earth thrown in; aim at earth, and you will get neither.” – C.S. Lewis
This is a little game I like to play when I’m feeling a bit down or nervous or any other thing I don’t really want to be feeling and for me, it helps me to do things in a new way.
The premise that this works from is, “What if today was my last day on earth, how would that affect how I do x”.
Now for those of you wondering how I ever end up going to work or how I can possibly make plans that go beyond today the answer is simple and also fun to play with. You just gotta be able to hold more than one contradictory belief at a given time and accept both as being true and realise at the same time that the things you choose to believe can be and are context specific.
When Rod was younger he used to be quite shy and often he’d concern himself with what other people might think or what doing such and such would mean about him.
The issue I’ve always had with doing that is that it tends to turn into quite a restrictive behaviour and when that happens, you tend to find that you’re not doing the things in life that you’d really like to be doing.
There’s going to be times when it’s a good idea to act a certain way in certain contexts and to behave in specific ways depending on who you’re around and that’s fine. It’s a part of life that’s kinda necessary especially if you want to get on well with the in-laws.
There are other times when things are going on and behaviours are “happening” and it’s not all that useful.
I remember being in an Irish pub one day and the band started playing some fast Irish violin music and all I wanted to do was dance. No one else was dancing; in fact most of the people were not even watching the group they were just getting on with supping more ale.
This was one of the first times I noticed myself asking the question “What if today was my last day on earth, would I still be stood here instead of dancing?” and that was enough.
That day I danced a kind of crazy Irish jig around the pub and it was one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve had.
The funny thing was, the more I danced around, the more people decided to join in. Within 15 minutes most of the pub were dancing around and having a fantastic time.
Since that time I’ve used this technique a number of times. Whether it was deciding if to smile at a girl on the train, to take that next step and kiss the girl I’m dancing with, or to allow myself to act silly and do things that I might otherwise think too much about.
When I’ve worked with other people, especially those who have busy schedules, lots to do, no time for anyone and are stressed-out to the point where they can’t even spend 10 minutes with their kids….along with other techniques and ideas, this one has come in really handy and is a lot of fun.
Making a decision to stop for a moment and to ask yourself “If this was my last day on earth, how would I do this” can be a real eye opener and clears the path to doing what it is you really want to be doing. Whether that’s deciding that if today was your last day you really would make 1 hour to spend with your kids, to visit your mother, to call an old friend, to finally tell that someone how you feel or to simply notice how many other people you can help to feel amazing.
Have a play around with this and see how much of a difference it can make to the things you do and the way you experience the world. Remember, you don’t have to pretend this is true for the entirety of your existence; it can be context and time specific. Sometimes allowing yourself to believe this for a split second is all it takes to remind you of what it is you really want to be doing instead of worry about what you should be doing.
Have fun and I’m looking forward to hearing some fantastic responses.
Love, Jamie
I understand what you are sayng here but what happens when your actions have Consequences and its not just kissing the boy you really like it could effect other peoples emotions and maybe hurt there feelings. What happens when your actions hurt others, you may feel good and released after you have done it but what about other peoples emotions.
Recently I left my home city and have moved away from a boy that i really liked. We were getting really close but because i knew i was leaving for a few years I didnt take it any further because I didnt want it to be hard for him when I left. i understand about ‘What if today was my last day on earth, how would that affect what I do ” has a time and place, but dont you need to think about other peoples feelings in a situation as well…What about the consequences to your actions.
Hi Giggy,
You make a very good point so let me clarify this as best I can here.
The process I’ve outlined above can be used in two different ways with regard to what you’ve said. The first way is that you ask yourself, what would be different about this if it was my last day, and then you can take action on that. The other thing you can choose to do is ask the question but still not go through with any action.
The thing is, when people feel stuck and lacking in choice, this process can often open up new possibilities and new choices. The person asking themselves the question can still choose not to do whatever it is they come up with because sometimes in some contexts it’s just not appropriate to take action.
Your example above is a good case where taking action might have been detrimental to someone else in your life and so you made a decision about which path you wanted to take.
Like Richard Bandler says, Freedom is everything and love is all the rest, and if this process can give someone the smallest amount of new freedom, then they can choose the best path for themselves to take.
Thank you for your comments; I think it’ll give a lot of other people something else to think about.
Love, Jamie