One time in Vegas, I was speaking to a group. There were roughly a couple hundred people attending the conference.
I checked into my hotel room to settle down for the night. There was a country music concert going on beside the hotel and it was really loud. Then without warning, they started setting off fireworks. Rhythmic sounding fireworks that reminded me of something else.
It sounded like a war movie. That rhythmic bup-bup-bup of high caliber weapon fire.
Very quickly the speakers in my room crackled to life announcing, “There is an active shooter on the premises, all rooms are locked down, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR ROOM.”
I turned on the TV only to discover that, right outside my window, the infamous Las Vegas shooting of October 1, 2017 was happening in real time.
In this picture taken from my room, you can see the open window of the shooter at the Mandalay Bay hotel about of third of the way down the column on the right side of the building.
That night, everyone was locked down for the whole night wherever they were; bars, restaurants, and clubs. Rumors abounded about multiple shooters and bombs going off. Some of our group barricaded themselves into a room and waited in terror.
The next day we cancelled our event and rented a top golf and served appetizers. We wanted people to decompress and be together and start to process the events of the night before.
During the conversations with participants that day, I realized that for many people, it was the first time in their lives that they realized that they’re going to leave this planet, and they’re not in control of when. Some were seriously traumatized.
We all faced the ultimate reality. Our time here is limited. As a Christian, I’m not afraid of death, but I would like to get a few things done before they lower me down.
Rough life expectancy in North America is 80 years for males, 84 for females.
That means that most men are born with 29,200 days to live, and women about 30,660.
I’m 58, which means I have (maybe) 8030 more times to wake up and live another day and contribute in some way to lives around me. Of course, this might be my (or your) last day too, you never know.
My question this morning is, “What do you want to do with the days you have allotted to you on this earth? How do you want to spend them?” Most of us plan our vacations with care, and give no thought to how we want to spend our actual lives.
This is the time of year when we start to think of the one to come. Why not put some thought into what you want to achieve in 2024?
Start by assessing your life right now. What’s working, and what would you like to see change? You can find the worksheet here:
As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living”
Getting ahead is about getting started.
