knowing you will die within a year

"If you were told you are to die within one year from today," said I, "what changes would you make in your life?"
He made no answer.
I presented the question to a friend who, moments earlier, told me that in this third decade of his life, it lost all meaning.
"Nothing," he replied after a minute of consideration, "What possible can I change?"

Intrigued by my own question, I later presented it to others. Most people argued to quit their job, leave anything and everything behind and proceed to do all those things they always wished but never got around to. Few said that they will avoid anything which can result in death. Good luck.

When one claims to change nothing in such circumstances, it is safe to assume s/he is horrified by the idea of change. Nothing else holds.

I trust it perfectly normal to be satisfied with one's life.
As for myself, I always felt there is something more to it. So much I don't know, so much I haven't seen or done.
Most would claim that lacking the ability to turn back time, there are countless of things they cannot do. This might be true, but it does not excuse all the things they can do. All you have to do is get up and go. Most of us, for various resons, won't.

But why leave? Why not change here and now?
Perhaps you can, but consider that we define our existence through our surrounding, we are who we are in the eyes of society. This would suggest that changing your surrounding will also have the effect of removing all stings connecting you with whom you are. Removing all links, hard and soft, from a node, leaves it to stand on its own.

"If you wake up at a different time in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?" -- Narrator, Fight Club

If you were told you are to die within one year from today, what changes would you make in your life?

As I presented to those in #Everything, the fact that you know you will die in a year is inconsequential. It's what you do with that year that gives yourself and others a glimpse into your personality.

Of course, upon receiving the news, there would definitely be a large amount of devestation. I mean, your life is going to end in a year. You have a year to live, and then everything ends. Nothing.

The first stage would consist of sadness, depression, and anger. Sad, because you're going to lose the universe along with your life. Depression, because it's coming and you know it. Anger, because it's all happening to you. Unfortunately, a lot of people wouldn't get past the first stage. These people are doomed to spend their final year sitting home, moping in self pity.

The second stage would be acceptance. This might even come with a little bit of determination to try to find a cure - even if death is certain. (which it never is.)

Personally, I'd make time to do all of the things I would have put off doing, or would have never done in fear of how people would think of me. God dammit, if I'm going out, I'm going out in style. A partial list:

• If I had a disease that wasn't communicable, I'd go to my old high school and lay down a really passionate kiss on my Senior English teacher. Just because.
• I would ride a rollercoaster that actually has a loop. (I've only ridden coasters that don't go upside-down.)
• Skydiving! I've always wanted to jump out of a plane, but I'll admit I've been too scared to try it. A free fall that fast compounded by a parachute would scare the hell out of me. In this situation, however, that would be the point.
• Try to find a way to visit people I look up to and admire. If nothing else but to tell them they've had an impact on my life.
• Spend time with my friends and family. Do stuff together. Have a lot of fun.
• Give away all of my belongings. There's no sense in a will if I have time to handle things personally. "Hi. I'm going to die soon, and I'd like you to have this."
• Teach something to someone. Thoroughly. That way, I won't ever really be gone, as I have left something of me with someone else. (A Mind Meld would be handy, but that's not an option.)

In general, I'd be going out with a bang. Out of anything that I do, I will definitely want to do something in which I would certainly be remembered. That would be my terminal goal.