Have you ever had the thought “this is IT..my last day on earth”?

Wake up calls are an opportunity to live fully in your life and stop procrastinating. If it is your last day on earth and you knew it, would you be content with everything that brought you up this moment? Does the time spent from the day you were born till now leave you with a feeling of “Ok, I’m ready to go”?

The dash refers to the small line between the date you were born and your last day of your life. Usually seen on a headstone to commemorate your life, it entails quite a lot of adventures, joy, sorrow, excitement, and life lessons. Your entire life is packed into that dash and yet the only person that knows what exactly is in that is YOU. Those you meet along the way may have a glimpse of that dash of yours but cannot see it entirely. They may visit your grave one day and wonder what your life was like, especially, let’s say, they are your future grandchildren that you never got to meet.

It was Linda Ellis that wrote a poem about it in 1996. The last line reads:

“So when your eulogy is being read, with your life’s actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you lived your dash?”

Life does go by quickly and that little line represents a blip on the human evolution radar. So you may as well bring that blip of yours into full aliveness now, while you still have time to add to that cute little dash.

Clean out toxic relationships-there is no more room for those.

Release anger, guilt, resentment-that dash is not the place for them.

Cultivate a dash that fully represents the one-of-a-kind-you that you are so that when the other date book-ends your birth date you feel like you’ve lived a life well loved.

Here are 10 ways to help you wake up to that full life dash:

(simple as ABC)

A-Ask. Inquire and learn.We are always growing when we do.

B-Breathe. A true tool for living but we don’t do it fully. So exhale and let go!

C-Count your Blessings. Look around you and wake up to so many miracles.

D-Do a good Deed. Community service helps the greater good and your heart be full.

E-Eat from the Earth. Greens, glorious greens. Vibrant dash with this.

F-Feel your feelings. It’s ok to let your emotions flow and show. You are human.

G-Grow through adversity.You’re still here. You can do it.

H-Hug 4 people daily. Touch adds years to our lives.

I-Ignore. What others say about you is none of your business.

J-Just BE. Pause. Be in the moment. You are alive now.

Shift your life into that dash and suddenly the big problems of your life are not so big after all.

Though easier said then done, this takes patience, practice and a willingness to see your life through this new perspective. The choice is yours daily-wake up to a new way of seeing adversity, joy, or just another day in your amazing life. See it with a vision that you no longer take for granted. Make each breath wake up your true potential and create a magnificent life between each of those breaths and around each of your days.