Live Full & Die Empty

By Seun Tuyo 

Have you ever heard, read or seen something that stuck with you from the outset and changed your attitude towards life?

A few weekends ago I attended a meeting with the Eagle Toastmasters and I heard something that had a huge impact on me. A brilliant speaker announced the title of his speech as “Live full and die empty”.
For a brief moment, I was puzzled at what the phrase could possibly mean. Maybe you have heard it before but that was a first for me and so I paid attention. Glad I did because it was an eye-opener for me.

He delivered a great speech with the key message been that everyone is filled with potentials. Unfortunately, some people die without fully bringing these potentials to life. They die full.

At the end of that speech, I knew I wanted to die empty. All through that day, my mind went through a fairly significant examination of my life generally, career, family, finances, and where it was all headed.

Everyone has a period of existence on earth as well as a unique purpose. We all have incredible abilities and potentials irrespective of our sex, race, religion and ethnicity. We all want to leave a legacy that is the closest interpretation of who we are and what we are capable of. However, some people do not go the extra mile to empty themselves in this quest. They settle for comfort and excuses over total commitment and hard work. They never reach the heights they are destined for. This can be attributed to complacency, lack of discipline, discouragement, lack of exposure and fear of the unknown.

I read an article by Geraldine Ogwe titled ‘Things I Hope Never to Do Before I Die’, where the author listed a few interesting things she hoped never to do before she died and there after posed the question to the readers. The responses were interesting. I couldn’t help but wonder how many people were actually working towards what they mentioned as theirs. Regardless of what your response is to that question, there is an instinctive recognition that you have not achieved that goal. The difference in who you are and what you want to be, is what you do.

Take a moment, shut your eyes, inhale and exhale. Ask yourself, are you living up to your full potential? What has been your greatest achievement in the last week? What do you need to accomplish this week? What have you been avoiding that needs to get done? What are your goals for the next 3 years? Have any of your recent actions moved you closer to these goals? What are you most grateful for? If you knew you only had one week to live, how would you spend your time? Are you emptying yourself each day? What are you holding back? Why are you holding back?

The reality of this is that you will die someday. However, when you die, will you die full of all your ideas, dreams and aspirations or will you die empty? Will you have any regrets on your deathbed? The choice is yours.

Eventually your life will be measured by what you gave, and not so much as what you received. Give towards building a lifetime you will be proud of today, as tomorrow is only an unfulfilled wish. This way, you can go to bed satisfied everyday that you emptied yourself, and in the end, you would have lived a life full of contentment and empty of regrets.

Inspired by Todd Henry, I ask you this “Where is the most valuable land in the world?” You are probably thinking some place in Africa with rich natural resources like many other people are. How about the graveyard? It is filled with people who have been buried with their dreams unfulfilled. Think about it, many unwritten books, unutilized talents and skills, unfinished paintings, ideas that never came alive, businesses that never started, conversations that never held, grudges that never disappeared, relationships that were never repaired.

Look into the excuses and make that move. In the end, the hope is to die…. empty…without regrets.

Carpe Diem!