Live this life to the fullest

6/14/2007 4:18:47 PM

There is no doubt that we all spent the better part of the past few days reviewing our personal budgets just to see by how much we are overcommitted. The recent interest rate hike linked to the new credit act would most definitely impact us all – if not our daily spent then our personal investment portfolios.

But let us leave that for now – what I would like to address in the following few paragraphs is LONGEVITY and for those that would be reading my editorials in the future please store this word somewhere as I belief that is what life is all about.

I have spent the better part of Friday and Saturday morning at the open graves of two of my Rotary friend’s partners. Having listened to the eulogies I realized once again how different “life” and “living” are. We spend the better part of our lives trying to stay alive and in the process we forget about living but at our deathbed the same question always get asked. What was my purpose on this Earth and did I make a difference? My legacy is all of a sudden all important – not SARS, interest rates, salaries, luxuries… but would I be remembered for having lived life.

I can dwell on the definition of “life” and “living” but our interpretations would differ irrespective what the internet/dictionary tells us. Do we not all live with the premise that we would reach 80/90 and have the strength AFTER retirement to do all we planned and worked for our whole LIFE? Then we have plans to LIVE LIFE. But nothing is certain except death and taxes and none of us really know when our number comes up.

So can we really tell the future? – no we simply cannot but we can certainly plan for it and irrespective the uncertainties associated with the future, by allowing for enough flexibility the future can become part of our daily lives. Clem Sunter talked about the high road and the low road and in between we find the probable road we travel but because man live the lives of others they often find themselves doing introspection when it is (almost) to late.

But what am I really trying to say? If we want to live this one life to the fullest I belief we have to ensure that we include enough scope for “movement” (interest rate hikes/credit squeezes/etc.) plus allowed through proper planning – retirement- (diversification) and estate- (will/living will), legacy (bequeaths) and longevity (trusts) that we are prepared for whatever the challenges of life may be - seeing that we have lived our lives as a journey and not a destination.