"I don't want to die..."

One night when I couldn't sleep, when the ideas kept flooding me, I thought to myself, "Maybe I can publish 1-2 books a year."  I proceeded to write a "book priority list" in my phone to figure out which ones I should focus on first.

...and then realized it would take me 60+ years to finish!  Talk about feeling a little panic for needing to kick things into high gear!

Of course, not all of these ideas will make it to final form.  But we're talking about today!  What about tomorrow's ideas and ten years from now?

I remember listening to a commencement speech by Denzel Washington who relayed a message from Les Brown: 

Imagine you're on your deathbed, and standing around your bed are the ghosts representing your unfulfilled potential. The ghosts of the ideas you never acted on.  The ghosts of the talents you didn't use.  And they're standing around your bed angry, disappointed, upset.  "We came to you because you could have brought us to life," they say, "And now we go to the grave together."  So I ask you today, how many ghosts are going to be around your bed when your time comes?

Artist: Jenny Slife

We all suffer from the same terminal condition - mortality.  When I say "I don't want to die," I mean that I don't want to die until my last book is written.  That's my fervent prayer to God.  Unless the Rapture comes, in which case, yes, please rapture me.  So either I'll be around for a loooooong time, or I'm about to be a quick writer!  Cheers to a lifetime of books ahead.  You in for the ride?

Share about the ghosts you want to bring to life in the comments below!