Gwen Bell – 15 Minutes to Live

We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live.

1. Set a timer for fifteen minutes.
2. Write the story that has to be written.

So, I’m taking part in Seth Godin’s #trust30 writing challenge. #Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. The idea is to use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey.

And so, here I am with the first prompt - 15 minutes to live and a tale to tell. Well, not a tale, just a few thoughts. The details are unimportant, the feelings are what I need to tell you…

15 minutes left & what is there to tell? I think back and happy memories flood my mind.

I realise it’s all about experiences not things, people not objects, happiness not money. I’m surrounded by stuff, none of which gives me any solace now. 

I realise it’s all about choices you make, how you react to events and not the events themselves. 

I realise we will all end up here eventually, that’s a given. What we don’t know is when. Any day you could find yourself in this situation - what are you putting off.

My advice… choose to live the life you want, not other peoples idea of a good life. Set yourself the highest standards and strive to attain them everyday. Never see anything as a failure - it’s all part of life’s lessons, learn from it and move on.

Finally - surround yourself with people you love, this is where your greatest strength and pleasure will come from, put people first and you’ll be happy no matter what life throws at you.