Momento Mori

Years ago, I had a friend that began texting me at odd hours and some of those texts were just.. way out there. I decided that I would text him back that Friday and see if he wanted to do something that weekend. I texted him on Friday. No answer. I tried again on Saturday. Again, no response. Monday morning, I received another text from another friend asking if I had heard the news. My friend had committed suicide. I avoided the signs and was more concerned about my sleep, or my schedule to reach out. Why am I telling you this? It's the whole point of Mometo Mori. Do things today because tomorrow may never come.

Now, I had a completely different topic laid out for this blog post. I had the draft up and ready to go, but in writing, I fell ill and was bedridden for two full days. It inspired me. What exactly is Momento Mori? It's Latin for "remember your death," or "remember you will die." Think YOLO, but much much older, and the more you think about it, the more it seems to sink in.

What if you were going to die tomorrow? What if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? How would that affect your day today? Am I telling you to gamble all your money away and shoot up heroine? Absolutely not! What I am asking is, if you died tomorrow, would you feel content with your actions today? Were you able to tell those that mattered how much they really meant to you? Were you able to forgive those that wronged you, and moved forward? Do you want to die knowing that there are things left on the table, a text never made, or a life goal that you have never even started?

There are so many uncertainties in life and nobody can predict your tomorrow, but the one consistency in life is that we will never make it out alive. Each day that we wake, we are living on borrowed time and each day that passes now belongs to death. It is said that the same two feet will never touch the same body of water twice. The water is ever flowing, and your body will never be that exact age in years, hours, and seconds. Your emotions while in the water may change, your mentality will have changed. The person before this moment will be no more.

I know, this is supposed to be self help and positivity and I'm sitting here talking about death. What the hell is wrong with me? Absolutely nothing. This should inspire you! Each day is a gift, that's why we call it the present, after all. What if I really want to ask that person out, but they say no? Have you tried? Or are you just listening to your fear? Did you know that most of our fears is just our imagination? Did you know that you can control your thoughts and imagination? Change those thoughts, friends. If they do say no, you can move on. No harm done. If they say yes, though? Have you considered that?

We really do only live once, and the days up to this point we will never get back. The question is now, with this information, what changes are you going to make to give you the life you want? Momento Mori.