"Live every day like it's your last."

[Jarodaka]

Also repeated as:

"Live every day like it's your last because someday you'll be right."

"Live every day like it's your last 'cause one day it will be."

This has been bouncing around my head all weekend. I don't like it. (I don't like the saying nor the bouncing.) What does this cliched remark mean to you? Does it actually make sense to follow this advice? Is this actually a good idea?

As I said, I've been kicking this around in my head and at this point some more perspectives would be nice. Thank you.

[Vater Araignee]

If I did that I would be living in some geriatric ward wasting away.

I'm to young for that!

[Daevion]

If everyone lived like that than many things wouldn't get done, If you really think about there is enough chaos in the world.....ask yourself...."Should everyone run around amok all day every day?" Do you really want millions of people running around just doing whatever the hell they want without regard for anyone else? There's already enought of this crap going on in the world as is, why multiply the problem.

In theory this sounds like a good idea :"Live every day like it's your last because someday you'll be right." but in practice, our prison system is overcrowded because they chose to live like that and to the extreme.

...on the otherhand it may also depend on what your personal definition of "Live every day like it's your last because someday you'll be right." is.

[JaneDead]

i don't want to live every day like i won't be around for another but to me this statement means- don't put things off, if you want to do something - do it.

don't take advantage of things/people or take them for granted. appreciate all that you have right now because yeah, some day you or it will be gone.

don't live with the "i'll do it later/tomorrow" attitude about everything in life (which is pretty much what i actually do ) and just waste time.

live every day to it's fullest and appreciate something , even if it is only one same thing, every day.

to me that is all that statment means. to actually live and not waste your life away.

[Onyx]

I've been living with this sort of attitude since my neighbor was killed in a car wreck. She had a daughter the same age as my oldest. It made me realize how life can end at any time. It really truly changed my life. Somehow until then I never faced the fact that our days are numbered and every day is precious. I didn't truly value the people in my circle of friends and the few family members I get along with. (this reminds me - I owe my brother a letter).

I used to be so focused on working and paying bills and worrying about stupid crap that really didn't matter that I wasted literally years of my life. I never set foot in a dance club till about 5 years ago, had never had been in a large city or a zoo or a museum, spent so little time with my friends that they ceased to be friends.

You don't have to be irresponsible to value each day.

[Daevion]

I've been living with this sort of attitude since my neighbor was killed in a car wreck.  She had a daughter the same age as my oldest.  It made me realize how life can end at any time.  It really truly changed my life.  Somehow until then I never faced the fact that our days are numbered and every day is precious.  I didn't truly value the people in my circle of friends and the few family members I get along with.  (this reminds me - I owe my brother a letter).

I used to be so focused on working and paying bills and worrying about stupid crap that really didn't matter that I wasted literally years of my life.  I never set foot in a dance club till about 5 years ago, had never had been in a large city or a zoo or a museum, spent so little time with my friends that they ceased to be friends. 

You don't have to be irresponsible to value each day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

absolutely!!

"Live every day like it's your last because someday you'll be right."

This can be interpreted in so many ways, depends on your outlook and personal experience.

[escher]

I've been thinking about things like this lately as well, ever since I heard a song titled "Live Like You Were Dying." Yes, it's a country song. Leave me alone. =) It's about what you'd expect... a guy realizes he's dying, so he does everything that he always wanted to do. He's not living like each day is his last, though... it's more of appreciating the days he has and each day he wakes up.

I had a sister that passed away in a car accident when I was younger, and it influenced my view on life pretty seriously. For awhile, I spent my life as if the future didn't really matter. So I lived a pretty hedonistic, self-centered, live-in-the-moment lifestyle. But even then, there's a lot that I didn't do for whatever reason, usually fear of whatever.

Nowadays... I don't quite buy the "Live like it's your last day" philosophy. For me, it's more like, "Live life as best you can, without regret." I still go out and have my fun, but at the same time, I'm keeping the future in mind. If there's something that's important to me, I'm doing my best to make it happen one way or another. (That's leading to a couple of road trips to see old friends later this year.) If, heaven forbid, something should happen to me tomorrow, I can look back at this past week, the past month, the past few years, and be happy with what I've achieved and who I am. But as long as I get to keep living, I'm gonna keep growing as a person and try to do what I want to do in life. And if I did something

dynomiiiiite makes a great point about appreciating what you have. When I start focusing on my problems too much, all I have to do is step back and realize that I have a wonderful family, some great friends, a solid job, a good living situation, I'm in good health... the list just goes on, y'know? It's so common for people to focus on the one bad thing in their life, when they have so much to be happy for.

Wow, I wrote more than I expected... like I said, you're not the only person who's been mulling over statements like that. I think that the clichés you mentioned, taken by themselves, just don't work. But the message that they're trying to convey, at least to me, rings true.

[Shade Everdark]

Bah. What kinds of goths do we have here, when no one has yet mentioned that they WISH today were their last. What are goths coming to these days?

That said, living each day like it's your last...it's a flat-out rejection of reality, if you ask me. We all have to make sacrifices to the moment; we all have moments where we're not furthering our goals. And living each and every day without regret is like living each and every day without anger, without joy, without air. You can't do it. Regret is human, you can't escape it.

It might be worth remembering, too, that some can find beauty even in regret.

[TomCat]

Bah.  What kinds of goths do we have here, when no one has yet mentioned that they WISH today were their last.  What are goths coming to these days? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Leave it to Shade to piss on our parade...Shade, the Harbinger of Doom...LOL

[torn asunder]

eh, nevermind... :whistling

[Daniel]

Having a lot of recent experience with death, I've come to conclude that it is generally beneficial to be mindful of our mortality, but to focus on living rather than worrying about dying.

[Daevion]

Leave it to Shade to piss on our parade...Shade, the Harbinger of Doom...LOL

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't knock it...that makes him the ulimate goth

[Nienna]

It's a novel thought. To live every day to the fullest. For me it's always been an attempt to appreciate the good in every-days. To try to see something positive or special about each day even if it isn't a "special" day or a day in which I did something out of the ordinary.

I won't even pretend I do this all the time. It does seem to raise one's spirits sometimes though.

[Daevion]

It's a novel thought. To live every day to the fullest. For me it's always been an attempt to appreciate the good in every-days. To try to see something positive or special about each day even if it isn't a "special" day or a day in which I did something out of the ordinary.

I won't even pretend I do this all the time. It does seem to raise one's spirits sometimes though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, it is a novel thought. I know myself well enough to NOT let those demons out of the bag.