What would it be like to live your last days? Before the news you got up, made your breakfast, went to school, came home, went to work, did your homework, showered, and secretly talked to your boyfriend all night. You’d wake up the next day and do it all over again. It was a simple doctor’s visit, but then it became complicated. Two weeks after the appointment you get a call. “Hello?” Someone clears there throat on the other end. “Hi. Is this Anna?” He asks. “Yes it is.” “Anna, this is Doctor Randall.” “Oh!” You exclaim. “Hi Doctor Randall. Do you have my test results?” There’s silence on the other end. “Uh, yes I have them. I’m afraid I have some bad news though.” You sit down. “What’s wrong?” “Well, Anna I’m sorry, there is a disease spreading through some of your arteries and…” You get a little uneasy. “And what?” “Anna, I’m afraid there’s no cure… It’s only a matter of time before you… Before you die…” You hear him breath heavily and hang up. Your world suddenly comes crashing down as it starts to sink in. For many days you stayed inside, you didn’t eat, you didn’t sleep, and you just stared out the window. Many people called you, but you never answered, you never said a word, your parents watched you sit in the corner and could only cry. A week went by and one of your friends has had enough. She knocks on the door and your parents let her in. She walks over to you and sits down. “Anna?” She asks. You don’t respond. She sighs deeply. “Anna listen, you’re sad and I understand, but do you really want to spend your last days in the house? You need to go out, live! You don’t have long…” You looked at her, thinking hard. Finally you get up and get dressed. “Mom I’m going out.” She smiles and nods her head, holding the door for you. Today is the first day outside, the sun is shining, the top is down, and you’re just driving around. You look up and see the clouds; you try to make out little shapes of animals and objects. You turn your head and for that moment the sun is behind a cloud and the rays pour through the open spaces. The sky is the perfect shade of blue and the clouds are spread evenly across the sky, you think to yourself that it looks just like a movie. You close your eyes and smile. You feel the sun on your face. Your favorite song comes on the radio and you sing along. From this day until you die, everything changes. The things you used to think about are no longer important. It’s no longer important to wear makeup, to spend an hour on your hair and to make money. The only thing that matters is being free and happy. Relationships with your family become bigger and you spend more time out and about than on the phone or computer or in front of the TV. And you think to yourself, why did it take me dying to figure out that THESE were the things that were truly important. And here’s the answer. It took your last days to truly understand life because there wasn’t much life left. There is so much stuff that we put into high importance that just isn’t. So, here’s the big question. What would you do if it was your last day on earth? Well, pretend it is, and live each day as you were dying.