As late as possible…

Philip, father of Alexander the Great, thought one way. Louis XIV, thought differently. Both were crowned King. Philip, a Macedonian, lacked formal education and proper manners, thought “early and often” about his eventual death. In fact, he hired a servant to remind him daily of his mortality. The servants job was to utter these words at daybreak to his King.

“Philip, someday you too will die.”

France’s Louis XIV, thought differently. During his reign he decreed the word “death” not be spoken in his presence. Louis was not alone in his fear of death. According to research done by Don Brown, and covered in his book, Human Universals, we are all afraid of the same thing – Death. Yet most of us spend little time thinking about our mortality. We hear countless motivational speakers tell us to “begin with the end in mind.” Few of us do.

What is it you want said about your life?

Do you know what you believe about the big questions of life?

Have you authored your worldview or do you merely parrot others?

Are you living your life as if 2025 is your end?

You more like Philip or Louis?

Am I bugging you?

Let this rant serve as an irritant reminder. Great lives don’t obsess about the end and great lives don’t freak out about the fact they’ll someday be gone. Great lives are lived through the seasons. Strong and weak. Young and old. Bountiful and barren. With and without. Lost and found. Great lives, as Solomon observed, recognize the gift of life and the giver as well. How ’bout you?

By the way, you are living better than either King Philip or Louis. Fact. Slow down. Reflect. Answer the questions. Live with the end in mind. It’s coming quicker than you think. Die young, as late as possible. Fear not. Damn.

Live hard. Love harder…