What if you only had 6 months left?

A guy who lives in my house told me something that I still haven’t been able to fully process.

His best friend is 25 and lives a healthy life; he’s fit, active, eats well.

However,

3 months ago, this friend learned that he had bone marrow cancer. What’s more, he was told that he had 6 months left to live.

He was offered chemotherapy. He declined because his chances are next to none anyway and as you probably know, chemotherapy has terrible side effects.

What would you do it you only had 6 months left to live?

That’s a hypothetical question that’s fascinating to think about. But in this case, with this friend, he actually had to decide what his last 6 months would be like.

So what do you ACTUALLY do when you only have 6 months left to live?

A bit surprising to me at first, the friend’s now more focused than ever on his career. He wants to get his music album out and he wants to achieve the dreams he’s had since he was a kid.

When I gave it some thought, it made sense to me. What can give you more meaning than actually ACHIEVING something?

Here’s something that stuck with me:

His fear of failure is totally gone.

It makes sense: When you know that soon, you won’t exist – what is there to lose?

Interestingly, this guy’s last months have been his most productive ever. Without any fear of failure, there’s nothing left to hold him back.

In a way, his life isn’t much different than anyone’s life: We all have a limited time here on earth.

It makes sense to ask ourselves: What do we want to accomplish while we’re here?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below!

David Morin is the founder of SocialSelf. He's been writing about social skills since 2012. Follow on Twitter or read more.

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3 Comments

  1. I would say that life is all about utilizing your talents to the maximum.

    By doing those things, one obtains feelings of self-respect and fulfillness, and is able to optimally contribute to the community.

    In my opinion, everyone should be aware of their own mortality and live every day to the fullest.

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  2. I want to write childrenbooks, i want to meet a nice man to love and let myself be loved. I want to have a nice house and children <3
    I would live on a farm and I would paint, or teach to paint. Or teach to ride a horse.

    If I only got six month to live I would put the child to a surrogat-mother or something <3

    And I would be more greatful around My friends and family. Not that I'm not, but I would be MORE greatful.

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  3. My first thought is that I would want to go travelling to as many places as possible, and to experience lots of new things. I would obviously want to spend a lot of time with loved ones and do as many creative pursuits (art, writing, music making) as possible. Being in natural surroundings for much of the time would be high up on the list too.

    It’s quite telling of your nature and what’s really important to you when you think about this question. Thought provoking stuff.

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