Smart Living: Will You Go To The Grave Without Really Living?

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• Tags: life, smart living, Thoreau

Have you chosen smart living?

Smart living is the path for living life to the fullest.  It will accelerate your quest to experience the best life possible.

Of course, we can’t just read the rules.  We have to apply them to actually realize all that they truly offer.  What have you done to apply the rules for smart living? 

For that matter, what have you done to apply anything you’ve read lately?  If what you are reading doesn’t move you to action, then why are you reading it?  It does no good!

The Two Key Reasons that I Wrote the Rules for Smart Living

I recently completed my series on the 12 Rules for Smart Living.  I began the series by offering a couple of quotes that have served as the foundation for my quest to live life to its fullest.

I’d like to take a moment to reflect  and expand upon “the why” behind the rules.

Here are the two specific reasons the rules are so important to me personally.  I hope these will help you see the value of applying the rules in your own life.

1.  I do not want to go to the grave without ever really living.

I originally offered this quote as the basis for my passion for trying to live life to its fullest:

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.
~ Henry David Thoreau

As I stated before, I want to do everything possible to avoid going to the grave with the song still in me.  In my mind, this would be one of the greatest tragedies that could occur.

Let’s unpack this a little.  What does it mean to go to the grave with the song still in you? 

In my mind, it means failing to find your true passion and purpose in life.  It means never discovering your potential and pushing your limits.  It means that your dreams die when you do.

What is the point in living life if this is how it is going to wind up?  I just can’t let that happen!

I want more for myself, my family and for all of you.  This is why I write this blog.  It is the purpose that keeps me writing and writing and writing.  It is truly a labor of love!

I believe each and every one of us has a unique and perfect song in our hearts that is just waiting for us to express.  Sound corny and idealistic?  Well, maybe it is a little, but shouldn’t we strive for an ideal life?  Why aim low?

I want to squeeze every drop of satisfaction and significance out of life as I possibly can.  If you want the same, then I hope you’ll revisit my Rules for Smart Living, apply them to your life!  Do not go to the grave with the song still in you!

2.  I believe living deliberately is the only way to a full life.

This is my second reason for writing the rules.  Again, Thoreau offers my inspiration:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
~ Henry David Thoreau

The Rules for Smart Living are a framework for a deliberate life.  Following the rules will produce very specific results.  They are a well-worn and deliberate path to living life to the fullest.

The rules are some of the essential facts leading to a good life.  Of course, acknowledging this is not enough.  You have to live it deliberately.  Ponder this:

We’ve all heard that the unexamined life is not worth living, but consider too that the unlived life is not worth examining.
~ Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

At some point, you have to do more than just read, examine and reflect.  You have to actually start living and applying the wisdom you collect.  Otherwise, it is all pointless!

Failing to apply what you learn means you aren’t really living and growing.  This is a journey that builds upon itself.  It is a quest to unearth the real and authentic you. 

Here’s a picture of how it should go:

“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby.  But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
~ Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

I want to be all used up at the end of my life!  I want to know that I drank deeply.  I milked every ounce of goodness from life that I could.

To a degree, it is a path of trial and error because we are all unique, but there is also some ageless wisdom that we can embrace to help us along the way.

I didn’t invent or dream up what I offer in the Rules for Smart Living.  I don’t even want to imply that.  This is stuff that’s been around for a long time.  I just packaged it for easy consumption and application.

Live the rules deliberately!

Will you go to the grave with the song still in you?

I enjoyed writing this series.  I hope you benefited from it.  It will remain here on the site for a long time.  Please use it in your own life and share it with others.

Now it all comes full circle.  The Rules for Smart Living are a choice you make.  We all make.  What will you do?  Browse on to the next article or stop and dig deep into life?

Will you go to the grave with the song still in you?

Leave me a comment and let me know your choice!

Photo by Per Ola Wiberg (Powi)