Day 20 :: Meet a real cowboy
"A few months after a very frightening experience with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, I found myself sitting in a freshman honors English course at the university I had planned on attending one semester earlier. The professor was a passionate and intelligent woman, determined to lead our young minds toward the bigger picture. Your challenge reminded me very much of an assignment from her, which required each of us to live one day as if it was the last day of our lives. It was a wonderful and powerful twist of fate that I found myself contemplating the meaning of life just six months after I had almost lost mine.
Six years ago, I left that class with a deeper understanding of myself and a strong foundation upon which I could build my life. Today, I am enjoying the construction. I would spend my last 37 days in much the same way I spend most of my days. I would be happy for each new day. I would try to live more in the moment and to maintain perspective.
Sure, some things might be a sharp contrast to the usual. I would quit my job. Even if day one was a Sunday, and I had to call my boss at home. I would make all the necessary arrangements, lest my family might select unsavory pallbearers. And I would probably freak out a little, in my own special way that involves the making of many lists.
But most of my days would be divided between doing the things I most enjoy and the things I most want to do. I would visit the Grand Canyon. And the Smithsonian. And the National Holocaust Museum. I would host backyard barbeques and game nights. I would rise before the sun and watch it emerge above the fields. I would sleep late and make chocolate chip pancakes. I would eat lunch with the guys at the counter. I would have dessert before dinner. I would play racquetball and go kayaking. I would meet a real cowboy. I would take hundreds of photographs. I would be happy, because where there is happiness there is meaning and where there is meaning there is happiness."
-Kris Adams
I loved this essay. Here’s what I wrote to Kris: "I especially loved your keeping your family from picking out unsavory pallbearers (smile) and I recognized myself in the making of lists!" Now, on second reading, I’d have to add "I would meet a real cowboy." Why don’t we meet more real cowboys, anyway?
I’ll rustle up a copy of Life is a Verb, lasso it, and send it by Pony Express up to Kris in Pennsylvania to say thank you for sharing this with all of us.
(Send your answer to "What would you be doing today if you only had 37 days to live?" Those chosen to be posted between now and September 2nd–the official publication date for Life is a Verb–will receive a signed copy of the book!)
[photo by Kristina Adams. Of the photo, she writes: "After some deliberation, I selected a photo from the series I completed for the basic photography class I tackled during my senior year of college. With the series, I attempted to illustrate how a single event could impact and reshape an individual. Though the connection may not be all that apparent, it has strong meaning for me."]
