Live Like You Were Dying…Or Just Stop Pretending You’re Not
I heard “Live Like You Were Dying” again this week...
Not intentionally...it just came on.
And I didn’t hear adventure this time...I heard prioritization.
When you strip the song down, it isn’t about skydiving or mountain climbing.
It’s about focus.
When the noise drops…
When the timeline shortens…
When the illusion of “later” disappears…
What actually matters?
He says he loved deeper...spoke sweeter...gave forgiveness he’d been denying.
Not more...clearer...
That’s the part that stuck with me.
Most of us don’t need a diagnosis...we need honesty.
There are conversations we’re postponing...relationships we’re coasting in...work we’re tolerating because it’s “fine.”
Dreams we’ve downgraded into hobbies because they feel inconvenient.
We say we’re busy...but we’re often just distracted.
The song isn’t telling us to live louder...
It’s asking what we’d remove if time felt scarce.
Because here’s the uncomfortable part…
The clock is real...we just pretend it isn’t.
And pretending buys comfort...but it costs intention.
This week I’ve been asking myself a quiet question:
If the timeline shortened, what would immediately stop?
Certain meetings?
Certain obligations?
Certain internal narratives?
And if I’d drop them under pressure…why am I protecting them now?
I don’t want to live frantic...I don’t want to live reckless.
But I do want to live aligned.
There’s a difference.
The song isn’t about urgency...it’s about awareness...and awareness changes posture.
Maybe the goal isn’t to “live like you were dying.”
Maybe it’s to stop living like you’re guaranteed more time than you are.
That’s a quieter shift.
But it changes everything.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO
“Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw...I’ve heard it a hundred times. As I celebrated my 50th birthday this week, it hit differently...less about adventure...more about what gets stripped away when time feels real.
WHAT I’M READING
The Stoics...anything by the Stoics...trying to be a better man than I was yesterday...
WHAT I’M WATCHING
Vikings...all the vikings shows on Netflix...not sure why, but their journeys amaze me...how hard their lives were, but they just kept going.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” — Marcus Aurelius. Not morbid...clarifying.
COFFEE WITH CHRIS REFLECTION
The older I get, the less I think this song is about intensity...it’s about honesty.
If the timeline shortened, what would you immediately stop tolerating? What conversation would you finally have? What resentment would feel too heavy to carry? What obligation would suddenly look optional?
We don’t need a diagnosis to gain clarity...we just need to admit the clock is real...not in an overly dramatic way...but in a grounding way.
Maybe this week isn’t about doing more...maybe it’s about removing what you already know doesn’t belong...
Sit with that...I know I am.
