Since I was a child, I've always had a sense that time is running out. That I'm chasing a destination, yet never quite getting there.
Working towards a mystery goal meant that I spent much of my life never really awake or paying attention. I wasn't living with real intention, but one day it dawned on me that we have one shot at life, and that changed everything for me.
Imagine this scenario. Someone gives you a ball and says you have ten shots to get the ball in the hoop.
Then, imagine I give you the same ball and the same hoop, but you only have one shot. When you have ten shots to get it right, you probably waste a few and don't give them your all. But if you knew you only had one shot to get the ball in this hoop, you'd likely do everything in your power to get the ball in the hoop and put your all into that attempt.
Think of that shot as your life. We only get one shot at life, so rather than allowing it to pass us by, we should put everything into everything we do.
No regrets
I often reflect on the regrets we hear from our elders, saying that life 'just passed them by' and how they wish they had done certain things, or tried different experiences. I do not want to have regrets on my deathbed. I want to say I tried everything and I gave it a good old shot.
Reframing my thoughts to the fact I have one shot at life is the most freeing thing I have ever experienced. I spent much of my life never paying attention to the shots that I took. We are all taking shots every single day, but we scarcely notice.
Realising we only have one shot meant that I started living with intention and really being awake at all times.
I started doing the things that pulled me, following the quiet whispers in my heart, to take the full shot or chance in everything I do. And the ball might not get in the hoop but that’s okay! Because all that matters is I lived with intention and I tried. I want to live a life that I could say, 'I gave it a good go.'
You’ve got one shot at life to try everything and take a chance on everything! So stand tall, and fully take the shot.