Today brings the sad news of the passing on of Michael Jackson aged just 50 years. Whatever your thoughts of Michael Jackson as a person there is no denying that he was a musical legend of his time and the legacy of his music will live on forever.The death of high profile figures always brings home the stark fact that we are all mere mortals on this planet and that our time on earth is a limited gift.
Out of this sad news comes something we should all take to heart - that we are all put here to add value to the world, and that if you are putting off doing something great till tomorrow, do it today. If you have a goal or dream that you have been neglecting, why not turn this sad event around and make it a wake up call to take action now and ‘Get It Done Before You Die’. The world will be a better place because you did.
To quote from one of my favourite authors Steve Chandler in his book '100 Ways To Motivate Yourself":
‘Pretending you aren't going to die is detrimental to your enjoyment of life. It is detrimental in the same way it would be detrimental for a basketball player to pretend there was no end to the game he was playing. That player would reduce his intensity, adopt a lazy playing style and of course end up not having any fun at all.
Without an end there is no game. Without being conscious of death, you can't be fully aware of the gift of life.
Many of us keep pretending that our life's game will have no end. We keep planning to do great things some day when we feel like it. We assign our goals and dreams to that imaginary island that Denis Waitley calls "Someday Isle". We find ourselves saying "Someday I'll do this," and "Someday I'll do that."
Confronting our own death doesn't have to wait until we run out of life. In fact, being able to vividly imagine our last hours on our deathbed creates a paradoxical sensation: The feeling of being born all over again - the first step to fearless motivation. "People living deeply," wrote poet and diarist Anais Nin, "Have no fear of death."
And as Bob Dylan has sung, "He who is not busy being born is busy dying"’
Michael Jackson 1958-2009, may he rest in peace.
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