Like the rest of the ‘Mood’ pages, this is a loose collection of content that fosters the mood of thinking about a life well-lived. And the theme for this page is ‘To This Day!’
What you’ll find here are videos, links, and quotes that capture that stark reality we face upon waking each morning:
We wake each morning, predisposed to Stories about who we are and what our life should be. (Check out Your Storied Life for more on that)
And yet, at the same moment, we face a vast field of opportunity and possibility.
What if we could treat each day with reverence to the possibility it holds? Would we fondly explore life’s bigger questions upon waking? Would we boldly foster deeper understanding?
Would we work to imbue our day, and our life, with meaning and purpose? Would we practice the skills of living well with a sense of curiosity and play?
Enjoy the content below, and may it be a tribute and an inspiration for the possibility that every day holds for you.
Quotes
“It’s not the number of breaths…it’s what takes your breath away.” – Unknown
“If you had 10 minutes left to live, how would you design that time? With family/friends? Seeking thrills? Why? Now try varying this length of time.”
“Enjoy Life. It’s not a rehearsal.” – Amy Meyer
“It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the pale new growth on an evergreen, the sheen of the limestone on Fifth Avenue, the color of our kids’ eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of live. Unless you know there is a clock ticking.” – Anna Quindlen – A Short Guide to a Happy Life
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
“The regret men have of the misuse of the time they have already lived, does not always lead them to a better use of the one they have yet to live ” – La Bruyère
“Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
Videos
“When we’re in love, we’re also kind of sad.” All of this, everything we know, is impermanent. Check out Shots of Awe on youtube.
A project from RadioLab, the greatest podcast ever, showing a montage of moments. What is a ‘moment’?
Robin Williams – ‘Seize the Day’ – by Melodysheep
An awesome autotuned tribute to Robin Williams, capturing the ‘To This Day!’ sentiment of some of his scenes.
A video showing the astounding strength and agility of an 86-year-old gymnast.
A very motivational video made from Jim Carrey’s graduation speech. “Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world.”
A trailer for an excellent movie that praises the majesty of life and all existence.
We have an entire list of movie recommendations here.
Sam Harris on the Meaning of Life. A 6-minute excerpt about life, death, and the present moment.
A very motivational speech from Admiral McRaven, on just about everything.
A “seize the day” motivational video featuring speeches set to dramatic movie clips.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
Never, ever give up – Diana Nyad
In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming.
Links
Gracefully Facing the Reality of Death:
- Thinking about your own death on MLK day – Two months before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. imagined what would be said at his funeral
- The Island Where People Forget to Die – An in-depth look at a Greek island where people live a long long time
- Meet Zach Sobiech – An account of a cancer patient who turned to music
- Everything is a Present – 108 year-old holocaust survivor Alice Herz Sommer
- Possibility of health in old age – A photo series of seniors that shatters every aging stereotype
Motivation:
- Fight Metiocrity – A youtube channel full of informative and inspirational videos
- Pass It On Videos – A collection of uplifting videos from the Foundation for a Better Life’s ‘Pass It On’ campaign
- The 30 most powerful images of all time
- The greatest commencement addresses of all time – Kurt Vonnegut, J.K. Rowling, David Foster Wallace, Patti Smith, Anna Quindlen, Steve Jobs, and more
- Absolute Motivation – A collection of life-scope motivational videos
- Modeling the Masters – Youtube playlist with motivational material
- Some fantastic poems to this day – By Mary Oliver, William Stafford, and Rita Dove
On Being Busy
- The Disease of Being Busy – by On Being
- Life’s Too Short to Be Busy – by Tiny Buddha
- Stop Doing Busywork: Do More High-Value Work – by Medium
- The Case for Slowing Everything Down a Bit – by Vox
- Why Time Management is Ruining Our Lives – The Guardian
- The Case for Doing Nothing – NY Times
- How to Slow Down to the Speed of Life – Medium
There is a detailed section on Busyness on this site. There, you’ll find extensive content, resources, and exercises to open your life and your time:
Enjoy this original rap from a friend of this website about living a life of intention and awareness: