Did the title get your attention? I hope it did. That’s something I’ve said numerous times at five15 and at Leadership Development. I say it because I want to help people remember that our time here is fleeting and soon to be gone. And this should have an effect on how we live.

Mark recently gave me this quotation, which says the same thing in a longer (and much more eloquent) way:

“When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow: when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great Day when we shall all of us be Contemporaries, and make our appearance together.” - Joseph Addison

Reminds me of Psalm 90:5-6, 12:

“You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.“

Categories: five15 blog