9 Things I'd Do if I KNEW I was Going to Die Today

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2010/12/9-things-id-do-if-i-knew-i-was-going-to-die-today/

by jaltucher • 15 years ago

13 6 15 years ago

jamesaltucher.com

kunjaan• 15 years ago

> I wouldn’t surf the web. I already know way too much about Kim Kardashian.

I wouldn't surf shitty websites. FTFY.

alexsb922• 15 years ago

I honestly don't know what I would do. Although I wish I would be strong enough to actually do worthwhile things that day, I'm not to sure I'd be capable of that. Chances are I would just pay more attention to the world. Try to absorb as much detail that I would otherwise overlook in the speed of a normal day. And I would also remember and think back of all the great and happy moments of my life, and play them in my head. And chances are that closer to the final hour, I would start questioning my non-belief in a deity and life after death, as the whole nothingness after death would probably scare the living bejesus out of me.

krav2• 15 years ago

Very honest comment, liked it.

bartonfink• 15 years ago

I'd probably try to write down as much as I could. I don't so much care about not existing after death but the thought that keeps me up about five nights a year is that death is a damned waste.

You spend your whole life developing a mind and accumulating knowledge. You experience things, learn how to navigate familiar and unfamiliar situations, and hopefully you achieve some measure of success as you grow. All of this has immense value to other people because it's already been paid for with the dearest currency of all - time. And then, poof - one day, it's gone. The pattern of your mind is gone, and nobody else can learn all those lessons you've had to learn the hard way.

That's what keeps me up at night, and that's why, if I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I'd spend every waking moment I had telling strangers things I've learned so that, hopefully, they wouldn't have to learn those lessons themselves.

alexsb922• 15 years ago

Exactly, trying to leave a sort of a legacy and if not legacy, just making sure your life and experiences were not necessarily in vain.

krav2• 15 years ago

I tried this exercise once, asked myself what I'd want to accomplish if I knew I had a month to live. The answer was, I'd finish the latest draft of the novel I'd been working on for what seemed like forever.

So, I took out a calendar, kept track of days left. 30...29....

30 days later, I'd finished the novel.

9 Things I'd Do if I KNEW I was Going to Die Today

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