A lot of people say you should live your life like there is no tomorrow. The idea is that you should always be open to new experiences and constantly trying things you've always wanted to do. I can respect the sentiment, but I can't help but think it's a much better choice to live like you're going to live forever.
I have reached this conclusion after the recent death of film critic Roger Ebert. He had been ill for some time, losing his lower jaw and the ability to speak due to cancer. He had announced that he would slow down his output due to the return of the disease, but he still had big plans and no intention of going away any time soon. He called it a "leave of presence," and anticipated getting better and continuing to work on the different projects he had in the works. He died soon after, but his words showed a man who had enough confidence in his continued life that he still had the ambition to work towards many different goals. Some of those will be achieved, some no longer can, but it struck me as the right approach to living your life.
The thing with living for today is that there's only so much you can do in a day. You can enjoy yourself, but anything worth doing isn't going to have instant results. Some of the best things take time to accomplish, and you have to take the long view if you want to feel as though you're actually going to get there. A gardener isn't going to get their food overnight, a parent isn't going to see their child grow in a day, and a carpenter won't build a house in an afternoon. Great things aren't instant, and living like there's no tomorrow means you're not planning to do anything all that great.
As well, it's always easier to accomplish goals if you believe you can one day achieve them, or have the determination to keep working towards them no matter what happens in your life. Long-term thinking might sometimes be unrealistic, or might not account for things that will happen in the future, but it gives set goals and objectives to follow. It's always best to have those goals to work towards and keep striving for, it ensures there's always a reason to keep living and keep working.
Which is not to say someone shouldn't enjoy the moment, that's important too. But sometimes great joy can be found in working towards a long-term project, and personally the greatest joy is when something difficult, long-lasting and even potentially frustrating is finally achieved, and there's the satisfaction of knowing you've successfully met the challenge. It's might be minor, but it's always a good thing to keep moving toward some kind of future plan.
Whether or not one agreed with Ebert's film reviews, he still was an example of a way to lead one's life. A man known for talking who lost his voice, he found a way to keep talking, working through text instead of speech. A man faced with terminal cancer who never gave up or assumed he wouldn't make it. He kept doing what he wanted to do until the day he died, possibly right up until that final moment. That's a great way to live, just constantly confident that the sun will rise the next day, so you can always take an ambitious next step and plan for the future. Live like there's always a new goal to accomplish.
