At my age, and particularly since I became a father, I am quite often confronted with advice from various quarters that I should have made a will by now. When I hear this advice, I can't help thinking how ironic it is that our society strongly encourages us to make a detailed written plan about what should happen when we die, when so many of us have never even thought about making a written plan about what should happen while we are still living.
Often we throw up vague ambitions. We may think to ourselves, 'I want to make something of my life. I want to be somebody.' But then we fail to answer the questions: 'what?' and 'who?'
When we do this, it is the equivalent of going out of our front door, getting in the car and thinking to ourselves: 'I want to go somewhere some time.' Even with today's sophisticated satellite navigation systems, how likely is it that we are going to arrive at a satisfactory destination? We don't know in which direction to set off and there are no sign-posts that will point us in the direction of 'somewhere'. Contrast that with deciding: 'I want to go to London, now!' With that decision made, we can get out our map book or tap London into our sat nav and set off on our journey, confident in the knowledge that in due time, we will arrive at our chosen destination.
"Most people who are standing still in life aren't going any place for a very simple reason. They haven't selected a place to go." - David J Schwartz Ph.D
So before you start worrying about whether you have made a will for your death, how about putting a bit of thought and feeling into making a will for your life? It is funny, as I write this, expressions such as 'he has lost the will to live' are springing into my mind.
Take the time to write yourself a 'will to live' and keep it somewhere safe so that you never lose it. Read it often to remind the sat nav system that is your subconscious mind where it is supposed to be guiding you.
Then remember one last very important thing: enjoy the ride!
"Where there's a will, there's a way!"
Search within the Happy Cow Website
The Happy Cow website and all articles on it are created entirely voluntarily and free of charge. However, if you feel that anything on the site has been of value to you, you may wish to make a voluntary contribution to the upkeep of the site. Click on the 'Donate' button below.
If you have an inspiring tale or some interesting philosophy to share with us, please feel free to e-mail your ideas to
contributions@happycow.org.uk.