Live Like You're Dying
Before we dive in, let me start by saying I know how to spell “salute.” My editor (me) said she’s not paid enough to catch every single mistake and “solute” is technically a word so hence why she missed it in last week’s newsletter.
I may need to fire my editor AND get one with better spelling chops AND a better attitude…
Okay. Official business over.
Let’s talk about dying.
Sorry, but it’s what’s for dinner.
I’ve been thinking about dying a lot. Well, not really dying dying. But more so about really living AND then. Well, inevitably…dying.
You know the classic dinner party convo starter: “If you had just one year to live, what would you do” question? — Look, don’t judge. It’s a total a crowd pleaser (trust me).
Well, I have a kinda love/hate relationship with this question.
First, I love it because it gets the imaginative juices FLOWIN’. Man o man do I get a kick outa the schemes my little brain cooks up.
BUT…I hate it because: 1) I want more than a year to live and 2) it feels totally unrealistic to live like that. Seriously, if I had only ONE year. Just ONE. You bet your ass I’d be livin’ it UP! Think Tim McGraw “Live Like You Were Dying” song.
Lauren: “Tim, help a sister out here. How’s that jingle go?”
Tim McGraw: “Sure thang, honey…
I went sky divin'
I went Rocky Mountain climbin'
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I watched an eagle as it was flying
And he said someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'
Lauren: Now that’s what I’m talkin about, Tim!
So, let’s scrap the whole one year scenario. I think five. Five years is more realistioc. What do you think?
If you only had FIVE precious years on this earth, what would you do?
This is a question that I’ve been sitting with now for a few months. Followed by WOULD I…
Own this house?
Live in this town?
Do this for work?
Drive this car?
Hang with these people?
Climb Mt. Everest?
Go skydiving?
Ride a bucking bronco?
Some “YES”es but a lot more “NO”s — especially to Mt. Everest. F*** THAT.
Since reading Bill Bryson’s Die With Zero I have been haunted by the idea that I am not living the life I am really called to. And I shouldn’t wait. Not twenty years. Not five. Not even one.
Hence, why we sold our house. Hit the open road. And are now technically homeless.
And also why I’m deciding to step back from the business I built.
For almost ten years now I’ve been in staffing. I’ve met some totally kickass human beings. Found a lot of those kickass people jobs. Helped a lot of other kickass people build out their teams. And now I feel called to solve a different problem(s).
Still in the discernment phase. Still figuring out how to solve those other problems.
I love people. No matter what. And staffing allowed me to help a lot of people.
Now I need to figure out how I can show up for people in a new way
AND make a great living
AND make a life I can be proud of
AND figure out how the heck to do so in the next 5 years.
Only time (and a lot of coffee) will tell.
Now, let me ask you this
If you had only FIVE years to live…What the hell would you be doing with them?
would YOU…
Own that house?
Live in that town?
Do that for work?
Drive that car?
Hang with those people?
Climb Mt. Everest?
Go skydiving?
Ride a bucking bronco?
If “YES” — make it a HELL YES!
IF “NO” — it’s time for you & I to embark on a parallel journey.
Let’s gooooooooooooooo
—Lauren
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Do you savor a good ol' fashioned ghost story?
Do you enjoy stepping into a room filled to brim with human bones?
What about facing your mortality head on?
Well, well, well. Do I have a podcast (and a book) for YOU!
In this Cupalo Conversations podcast, Lauren Hannon interviews Michael Lichens, an author and editor with a deep passion for the overlooked aspects of Christian history. They discuss Michael's latest book, Weird Catholic Handbook, exploring themes such as ossuaries, saints, relics, and the phenomenon of incorruptibility. Michael retells the tail of some of America's most famous ghost stories and exorcisms, providing a historical perspective on these topics and how they relate to modern spirituality.
Tune in and discover the bizarre and extraordinary stories that have shaped Catholicism and our human history with Michael Lichens and his Weird Catholic Handbook…
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And yet another reason I SO admire you, Lauren. Early 30's and here you are, taking the (exhilarating and holy sh*t-scary) plunge to reinvent yourself, again. That was less common in my generation. Lucky for me, I really enjoyed what I did (that connecting with people thing) for a very long, and then I didn't, or at least not as much. But I stuck with it. I made huge changes in my life, but reinventing my career wasn't one of them. My hat off to you - brave, brilliant, beautiful, bodacious Lauren! Living vicariously through you💛
Can’t wait to see what you crush next!! 😍