Hi Friend,

How was your Monday? Yeah... this past monday?

There’s a favorite quote of mine by the American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, I put on my vision board this year.

I think about everything she faced and survived before writing these simple words I view from my safe, warm bed every morning. It grounds and humbles me and reminds me to be grateful and active in my values.

“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.”

–Maya Angelou

It’s become my daily reminder that each morning is brand-new, no reruns, no previews, no guarantees.

It nudges me to live the day in front of me.

After sitting down with my latest podcast guest, Best Selling Author, and new friend Jodi Wellman, I added a second question to my reflections...

How many weeks do I have left? And what would change if I knew?

Jodi is the founder of Four Thousand Mondays (because the average person gets about 4,000 of them), a speaker, and author.

Her book You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets made Adam Grant’s Summer Reading List and is a Next Big Idea Club must-read. Her TEDx talk, How Death Can Bring You Back to Life, has topped 1.3 million views.

But while researching for our conversation, I found myself revisiting the five most common regrets of the dying collected by palliative-care nurse Bronnie Ware.

Have you ever seen these? The regrets are:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

How do those questions feel? They always make me think and do a little self-audit. Where would I stand on these if today were my last day... how about you?

In this episode with Jodi Wellman, we cover:

• Why facing our mortality can reduce existential anxiety
• Simple tactics, even for busy schedules, to start living
• How to loosen our grip and find peace in the unknown

Acknowledging the end isn’t morbid as much as it can be motivating. You and I don’t have to flip our lives upside down overnight, but it would be great to stop waiting and start living.

If you’re ready for a gentle (and funny) wake-up call, listen to the full and truly wonderful conversation with Jodi Wellman here: LISTEN! :)​

Thanks for showing up for yourself. What’s one small thing you’re doing today to live? I’d love to cheer you on, Please let me know.

​
Lauren V. Davis

​(Free Resources / Book a Call Here)​

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P.S. I’ll leave you with a few reflections for the week ahead:

• What would shift if you knew how many Mondays you have left?
• Where are you postponing joy, waiting for the “right time”?
• Reply and tell me how many Mondays you have left?