By Malcolm Out Loud, Contributor, US Daily Review.
Death, particularly when unexpected, is often an abrupt reminder to reassess the priorities in our lives. Allow me to share my Nationally Syndicated Out Loud Minute honoring Andrew Breitbart. It airs Friday, March 2nd on radio everywhere, and can also be heard at MalcolmOutLoud.TV.
Your Out Loud Thought For The Day: Breitbart: An Out Loud Voice Silenced
On Andrew Breitbart’s unexpected death, one word comes to mind – AUTHENTIC! You hear me say it time and again, authentic people rise to the top. You don’t have to read between their lines. Of course you may not like what they have to say sometimes, and they’re not the most PC people in the world, but you always know where they stand.
You have a choice, you can live a meaningless life, or you can live your life Out Loud. Breitbart lived his life Out Loud. There are those that liked Breitbart a great deal and there are those that couldn’t stand him. Why? Because he had an opinion and he wasn’t afraid to voice it. Compare that for a moment to all the weak people you know in your life. Don’t you prefer those people that are willing to take a stand? The people that tell you the truth, even when it hurts? Or are you the type that prefer the common phony?
My mission is to help you live your life to the fullest, to impact people along the journey of life and ultimately make a difference. Pay attention to the details, go the extra mile, and distance yourself from an average existence!
Listen, I continue to tell you we have one chance at this thing called life. Let’s be as authentic as we can be and live our life to the absolute fullest – Out Loud style!
I have breaking news for you my friend. Each of us is going to die. Most of us hope or envision that we’ll live into our nineties, but you just don’t know – it could be that your last day is at 43 or 93. Life is a journey and a gift, and as much as each of us takes life for granted – one day that gift will expire.
We make decisions of importance every day of our lives. We choose our relationships, our careers and our lifestyle. We choose to live our lives in a positive manner, or we venture into a troubled and controversial life – all by the choices we make. We can also choose a life of sadness and one of regrets, or we can make a deliberate choice to be happy and live our life to the fullest.
The fragility and vulnerability of human beings should not be underestimated. One moment we feel invincible, and the next we’re struggling to recapture our health. We see good people die all around us. Life should be lived each day as if it were the last, because there are no guarantees. Only you can or should define what constitutes happiness for you- it may be fulfillment, contentment, adventure, risk, etc.
I came across an excellent blog and book from Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Here is a summary of the top five:
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
There are some valuable lessons in that top five. To me the most important is the first lesson, live an authentic life. Be who you are. When you change your life to please other people, it never truly works. I often hear a chuckle when people hear my name Malcolm Out Loud. They often wonder what this Out Loud reference is all about. I can tell you what it isn’t. First, it’s not to raise your decibels just to be loud. Secondly, it isn’t to be crude or arrogant for the sport of it.
I’ve spent 25+ years in corporate boardrooms around the world listening to business leaders. Equally I’ve been engaged with political leaders through events and organizations over those same years. The inspiration and passion that came from those conversations and meetings led me to believe that I had a responsibility to encourage people to get involved in the process, to let their voices be heard. Not to be bystanders in life. Not to simply complain about the process, but to rise and do something about it. Far too many talented, intellectual and resourceful driven people are kept silenced. You have one life to live – live it with passion, integrity and genuineness! It’s time to Get Out Loud in your life.
About Malcolm Out Loud:
Social and political news commentator Malcolm Out Loud is also the host of WebTV show Malcolm Out Loud TV, an acclaimed motivational speaker, founder of Brink Thinking and the author of the book Smash The Competition. More about him at www.MalcolmOutLoud.TV
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