Monday, July 28, 2008

Live Each Day As If It’s Your Last

A Jewish interpretation of this phrase (it may be Jewish in origin!) starts with a Mishnah in Avot D'Rabi Natan 2:29. There, a story is told of Rabbi Eliezer son of Hyrkanus who said to his students, "Repent one day before you die." They rhetorically asked, "Does a person know when he'll die so he can repent the day before?" He then amended his statement, "A person should say daily 'I will repent today, for tomorrow I may die.' In this way a person spends his lifetime in a state of repentance."

This is not to say we need to live our lives as if each day is Yom Kippur.

Rather, it is a charge to live a positive and meaningful life in which we have a meritorious effect on others’ lives, brightening their days and bringing light into their lives. It is a life of doing for others and caring for others, staying focused on personal success, but not at the expense of others. We live sensitively so no one need be hurt by our actions, so that at the end of our lives we have no regrets about our interpersonal relationships and our relationship with God. (We can still regret never having visited New Zealand - they say it’s beautiful!)

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