Are you living the life you want?

EULOGY Have you ever been to a funeral? Well, of course you have. Well, some of you might not have ever needed to, and if that is so… CONGRATULATIONS! *** For those of us who have attended one, have you ever listened to the Eulogy? Have you ever wondered what people would be saying about you if you were the one in the box? *** For example… “Uncle Percival was a wonderful person. He always had a smile on his face, Loved God, prayed every day, and was always willing to lend a helping hand. He lived every single day like it was his last, and never had any regrets. He never met a person he didn’t like. He always made friends wherever he went. He was the kindest, gentlest, most humble person ever, and he is going to be sorely missed.” *** Wouldn’t you love to have that said about you? In one short paragraph, I just said traits I hope I possess. But do I possess them? Not all of them. Do you possess any of them?

Would you like to? *** No I’m not going to sell you anything. I just thought it would be a nice idea to live a life that would make a great Eulogy someday. *** Here’s what I’m suggesting. Write your own Eulogy. I know, sounds a little morbid, but really… is it? Make it as fantastic, flowery, gushing and icky sweet as you can. Write down all the things you wish you were and all the things you know you are. Write down your hopes and dreams as if they all came true.

Write down how much you love someone else, and go into great detail about that love.

Write down all the places you want to go, and all the things you want to do, as if you have already done them! Explain in detail how captivating and sensational it all was!

Write down the risks you took with your business, or your finances and how they all paid off! Write down how incredible you felt when it happened! Write about how you built your church, helped the sick, volunteered, fed the homeless etc… *** Are you getting the picture? Live your entire life the way you want to live it in your Eulogy.

Now here is the tricky part. *** SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE LIVING UP TO THAT INCREDIBLE LIFE YOU JUST WROTE DOWN! Make it TRUE! Make that person COME ALIVE IN YOU! *** Now I know, we haven’t ever been to funerals where awful things have been said about the deceased… but I have been to a few where there were only a few words spoken because maybe that person wasn’t a good person in real life. For instance, “Bubba was a man. He was a man that lived a good long time. He was born in 1920 and died in 2000. He had beautiful blue eyes and always kept his grass trimmed” WHO WOULD WANT A EULOGY LIKE THAT! Not me! *** I would want to know if I touched anyone’s life… ever. I would want to know if my words helped someone else. I would want to know I was loved, cherished, and made others laugh with her. I would want to know that I had hair that other people coveted. (hee hee, weird I know, but oh so true!) I would want to have gone to every country that I want to visit, Greece, Tierra del Fuego, Rio, Australia, Fiji, Turkey, India etc… I want to have a home for each of my children, bought and paid for by the time they are ready to move out, and they only need to take over payments. I want to go to Law School, and participate in Speech and Debate tournaments. I want to have a hit cooking show on Food Network, and a crazy, whacked out, most popular blog that Oprah, Maya Angelou and Steve Martin love to read with a MILLION hits a day! I want to know that I was never a push over, and was kind to those less fortunate. I want to be giving and serving and loving and thoughtful and revered. *** Can you see where it’s going? The only way to do it… is to DO IT! So write it… keep it safe, but keep it where you can read it daily if necessary. Writing things down is POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE. Reading them daily, is also. *** Won’t you try it? Let me know if you do. And really, even if you just get half of your Eulogy accomplished in your lifetime… how much sweeter was your life, because you chose the path ahead of time!