get your comment: "4+3 must-DO before Expiration"

Elvis Costello had a very catchy song where the hook was, “Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book.” The first few chapters were about falling in love . . . and so one skims along and wonders about the final chapters in the book.

A surgeon named Sherwin Nuland wrote an amazing book entitled HOW WE DIE: “Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter.” It is written with such clinical exactitude, and yet it is so philosophical and poetic – - while telling a compelling story about death, about how we are likely to die.

Society understandably represses the presence of Death (instead, seeks refuge in all-out consumerism), and this avoidance has negative psychological consequences.

Buddha, on the other hand, leveraged our inescapable bondage to death in a constructive effort to purge unwholesome ways of living, in favor of wholesome alternatives with socially ethical implications.

Coming to terms with the inevitable final chapters gives a sense of urgency to what we will “write” everyday in our book. * There is no luxury for a draft in progress. Clarity of plot is essential. We as writers are truly under a dead-line . . . *

Many of the proposed goals on 43things are very interesting. Some are inspiring, some are mundane—both types of goals are part of life. Most have no deadline set in place, but this is a very important consideration in getting something accomplished.

So I am really concerned about that big DEADline in the sky. Others say that a variable number of maximum breaths is encoded somewhere in our bodies (our last Expiration literally, working like, a kitchen timer :). Then there’s the non-zero probability of getting hit by a bus. And so on…

Given such a definitive ending of one sort or another, we cannot fritter away our time on this planet completing whimsical tasks and meaningless projects. One must prioritize with intelligence—that is, know what is REALLY important to accomplish.

Please hit that ”# comments” prompt below to send your SEVEN (=4+3) must-things to do before Expiration. I love humanity, and all its imperfections, but above all, its courage, humor, and curiosity. There’s something for everyone to discover here.

Thanks very much—looking forward to your reply.