One day, your “tomorrows” will run up. You won’t have any more left to use. I know, I know — what a horrifically macabre thought to pour onto a site about enjoying each day, right? But that’s the thing: Making the most of each day doesn’t mean blithely ignoring the reality that one day, we’ll die — it’s living it up while we still can. That’s what made Amber Rae’s Choose Wonder Over Worry resonate with me.

The author, who served as marketing guru Seth Godin’s chief evangelist throughout the launch of six of his bestselling books, opens the book honestly, with a raw, powerful story about her father. He was a rock star, a partier, a man out of control. And then, one day, he fell asleep while driving a car. He’d been leaving a bachelor party, with the groom in the passenger seat, when they got into a car accident. The groom died instantly, the night before his wedding day. Her dad lost consciousness, and he never regained it fully.

Amber recalls visiting her father at a care center when she was 9 years old, seeing him hooked up to all kinds of machines. She asked him questions he couldn’t answer, she watched his not-quite-all-there smile, and she felt the joy of connecting with the father she barely new tinged with the agony of knowing she’d never fully know him. And the ache of wishing he wasn’t in such pain. A while later, he passed away, and his death plagued her with questions: What would he have been like, had his talents not been wasted? What if he found his way? What could he have been? It fueled a mantra for her, one that serves as the catalyst of her book: Please don’t die with your gifts inside.

One day, you’ll run out of tomorrows. Until then, what can you do to live the fullest expression of yourself? Even if it doesn’t mean you’ll be rich, or famous, or even fully appreciated for those talents. What do you ache to do, yet continually find reasons not to do? It doesn’t have to be some high, noble cause. Maybe it’s spending time with your family; teaching your kid — or the kid down the street — how to ride a bike, because you’ve never felt freer than when you’re gliding down the street yourself. Maybe it’s painting an abstract so abstract the only place you want to display it is in the back of your closet. But you love that feeling of having created something — getting emotions out on canvas — so you paint.

This doesn’t mean quitting your job or ditching your life as you know it; it’s just taking a few minutes to acknowledge what inspires you and taking a baby step toward it, so that “someday” isn’t always an idea, it’s a reality.

It bears repeating: Please don’t die with your gifts inside.

You can pick up a copy of Choose Wonder Over Worry on Amazon and at most major bookstores.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I receive commission from qualifying purchases. This helps fund the operation of the site.

Top Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash