Live Like You Were Dying

Tim McGraw had a county song, "Live Like You Were Dying." Generally speaking, I'd say he makes some good points.

When we assume that we have unlimited time, we are not careful enough about using our time well. We think, "there is always tomorrow or next week or next year." The "nice thing" about having a life threatening disease is that we have to be more disciplined - to take care of the most important things in life while we still can.

I would not suggest that you should put your life at risk by sky diving or bull riding. (One life threatening thing at a time is plenty.) But I think McGraw is suggesting that if you are already dying, why not try something dangerous? I would say, "If you are already dying, why not show the courage to face important but difficult things?" Stand up for what is right. Be courageous for the truth. What can they do to you?

To me, "live like you were dying" means not taking life for granted and doing the things in life that are most important. Like the song says, we need to concentrate on our relationships with God and men. We need to think of others and express our love while we have the chance. We need to use our days well - all the days we get. We need to appreciate life and not just rush through it.

We are all dying whether we have a diagnosis of a deadly disease or not. If you live like you are dying then a fatal diagnosis will not change your life so much after all.

LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING - TIM MCGRAW

He said: "I was in my early forties,

"With a lot of life before me,

"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.

"I spent most of the next days,

"Looking at the x-rays,

"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."

I asked him when it sank in,

That this might really be the real end?

How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?

Man whatcha do? 

An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,

"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.

"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,

"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,

"To live like you were dyin'." 

He said "I was finally the husband,

"That most the time I wasn’t.

"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.

"And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,

"Wasn’t such an imposition,

"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.

"Well, I finally read the Good Book,

"And I took a good long hard look,

"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,

"And then: 

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,

"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.

"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,

"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,

"To live like you were dyin'." 

Like tomorrow was a gift,

And you got eternity,

To think about what you’d do with it.

An' what did you do with it?

An' what can I do with it?

An' what would I do with it?