I have a love/hate relationship with time.
It can either be my friend, or my worst enemy.
We think we have enough time to do the things we put on the backburner every single day,
but then the procrastination turns into years, if not decades.
That’s fine, nothing to worry about, right?
That is until we run into those moments where we realize we’re out of time.
Our time ran out, with our desires never met, due to lack of motivation.
That’s why I ask you the question: What if you were told ahead of time you have
only 24 hours left to live?
What would you do then?
Many people would put things like skydiving, destroying private property, or disobeying
certain rules on their to do list, and I guess that’s fun and all, but is that really what’s
going to fulfill them once their time is up?
Likely not.
So what is it that truly matters, something that is more than just a short term pleasure?
It’s a fundamental part of living a good life.
I think Homer Simpson answers that question of what you should do on your final day on
Earth very well.
I will discuss exactly how he does it, but first, this video is made in collaboration
with The Simpsons Theory YouTube channel, the special guest for today’s video.
The Simpsons Theory is a well organized channel that talks about all things Simpsons.
So if by the end of this video, you’re dying (no pun intended) to see more of your favorite
protagonist with the crayon stuck to his brain, I highly recommend subscribing to her awesome
channel.
Aww thank you, and thanks so much for having me on.
Anyway, back to the guy with the crayon.
In the episode, One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish, Homer shows us all what truly matters,
and what doesn’t matter as much.
The story starts with Homer taking his family out for sushi, which is a food he’s never
tried before.
He’s skeptical at first, but quickly becomes a fan of the raw fish.
So much so that he orders the blowfish, expecting yet, another delicious treat.
However, it's prepared incorrectly by inexperienced chefs,
and as a result he is sadly poisoned.
After being rushed to the emergency room, his doctor sadly reveals that he has just 24 hours to live.
So like anyone would do, he makes a list of things he wants to get done before he’s
no longer on Earth.
And what I respect about Homer in this episode is how he makes spending time with his family
his top priority.
This is a consistency that you’ll notice throughout this episode.
The first thing on his list is spend time with his kids.
And he doesn’t tell them he’s dying, simply because he doesn’t want them to be sad.
And so he treats his final day on Earth like any other, and he prefers it that way.
But what can truly be admirable is once it’s time for him to go meet up with his dad, he admits to
him, face to face, that he hasn’t truly appreciated him enough.
So... why does this scene make us feel a certain type of way?
Well, it is because deep down most of us can either relate to Homer’s perspective, or his father’s.
Either there’s this gut feeling that we should tell a specific someone, or more people
that we love them, or instead we are in his father’s shoes, and have the idea that certain people
don't love or care about us.
This episode constantly emphasizes the importance of the words, “I love you.”
It’s 3 simple words that seem insignificant, but can mean the difference
between a life of misery, and a life of happiness.
Therefore, we encourage those watching this to do your part and to tell your friends and family that
you appreciate them.
Now, it would be enough to have made his peace, and dip, but Homer’s even generous enough
to accept his dad’s offer to hang out together for some catch up time.
It comes at a cost though.
He planned to do other things on his list, but has the intuition to see what’s truly
important.
At the end of the day, he says his final goodbyes to his family, then listens to some Bible
quotes to count down his final seconds on Earth.
to see him perfectly fine.
Who knows if this whole situation was blown completely out of proportion, or if it was literally
the work of God?
All we know is that Homer definitely had the best day of his life regardless.
This whole situation motivated him enough to finally do the things he put on his backburner.
He takes this as a lesson to never again take life for granted cause you never know when
your time is up.
Everything Homer did in this episode didn’t require any money, it didn’t require him to
travel the world, and it didn’t require him to break any laws.
These are examples of things that we could all do today.
So yes, while a scenario where we are told that we only have 24 hours left to live is
unlikely, we should still treat every day like it’s our last.
That’s called living the good life.
Thanks for watching.