I will live this day as if it is my last

​In his book, The Greatest Salesman, Og Mandino says "I will live this day as if it's my last."

How many times have we asked ourselves that - if this was the last day of my life, how would I live it?

I think we've all answered that question at one time or another. But if you're like me, how we go on to live the potential last day of our lives seldom looks like the answer we came up with. Maybe it never does.

Why?

I suppose first and foremost because none of us truly believes this is our last day. When we see time as a limitless resource it's easier to waste. It's easier to put off until tomorrow what we could be doing with this potential last day of our lives.

I frequently hear stories about people who have illnesses that are terminal. They suddenly know their time is limited. Often they know just how limited - only weeks or months to live.

The way many of these people start using their time is very different than the way they did prior to their diagnosis. They start making their "I want to do this someday list" the things they refuse not to do this very day.

And when they start living this way - you'll frequently hear them express their biggest regret in life is they didn't live that way long before they knew they didn't have much longer to live at all.

Procrastination isn't a habit. Procrastination is living under the blanket of unwarranted comfort that comes with the belief time goes on forever. If you received a terminal diagnosis today - all procrastination would be cured.

Often we lack the faith to live life boldly - to live as if this might be my last day. We spend our days wrestling with doubt. We know how we'd like to use our time; we know the dreams we'd chase if we knew they'd come true. We just live in constant doubt they ever would.

Well doubt is the surest guarantee you have that you'll waste your days; the surest way to make sure your last day will go down as a dream killer - not a dream maker.

Faith says I know I don't have unlimited time here. It says I'm kicking doubt to the curb; I'm making something of this potential last day. Faith says I refuse to one day wake up unfulfilled because I treated each day as if my last day was never going to come.

And the crazy thing is, I think when we start living that way, we don't worry as much about that last day. Dying doesn't scare us as much when we confidently take on each day. You don't have time to live in fear of the arrival of your final day when you're busy making the most of the current one.

There is a momentum that comes with confidence.

There's a confidence that comes from living boldly.

And it all starts when we decide I'm not waiting until tomorrow for my best life. Because today we might be living the last tomorrow we'll ever know.