2.) I noticed that most of the things you chase after and worry over are meaningless.
I love statistics and percentages. I know a baseball player who hits .300 or better is an excellent hitter. A coach who wins 60 percent of his or her games is a great coach. I am a stats junkie.
But the day the doctor threw out statistics involving life and death, I did not like stats as much.
I went through scenarios in my head. What did I miss out on? What do I regret? And you know what I realized? I spent most of my life chasing things that don’t matter. Money. Popularity. Status. A high score on Xbox.
Life-threatening events separate the insignificant from the significant. And, truthfully, almost everything is insignificant when these events show up at the doorstep of life. What Solomon said is right.
We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. Ecclesiastes 5:15
I shifted my focus. I changed my perspective. I decided to go “all in” with God. I decided to go “all in” with His purpose for my life. I decided to focus on stuff that matters because chasing things that don’t carry beyond this life is a waste.
3.) I saw that an intentional life starts when you view every day through the lens of death.
Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. Psalm 39:4
Before cancer, I acknowledged death as inevitable. But I didn’t believe it. This is the danger of youth. I had many years left. No need to get serious.
You see, freedom comes in living every day as though it were your last. This happens when you view every day through the lens of death. This truth helped me wrestle with the inevitably of life. It increased my faith in God. It released me from myself.
I realized my boys would one day be without their father. I realized my wife would be without her husband. Or vice-versa. And this saved my life.
Here’s why. I have dreams for my boys. I have dreams for my wife. I have dreams for the ministry God has given me. And I am guilty of believing I am responsible for those dreams becoming a reality. But the inevitably of death reminds me I am not in control. God must show up. A meaningful life comes through trust in God. Because He is eternal. And I am not.
4.) I found that listening to the words of people who love you can transform your life.
If not for my mother, mother-in-law and wife, I would not be alive. Period. They forced me to see a dermatologist. I wouldn’t have gone without their nagging. And their nagging saved my life.
I realized the insights of others could alter the trajectory of my life. And I needed to listen to those people. Cancer opened up my heart to hearing the opinions of others. It gave me a deep respect for the gift of friends and family. It gave me an even deeper love for the women in my life. People too arrogant to accept the opinions of others are robbing themselves.
Listen to the people closest to you. Listen to everyone. And discern their words. They might just save your life.
5.) I realized there is a bad time to do something you need to do today, and that time is tomorrow.
Some of you NEED to do something today. But procrastination prevents you from doing it. “I can do that tomorrow. I will do that next week. Now is not the right time.”
Or maybe it is.
I always wanted to make decisions from faith. But I thought I could do that later. Then came cancer. And the “I will do that later” and “maybe in the future” mindsets crashed to the ground. Hard.
