Dash of Courage: Living a Great Life

"Wherever you are, be all there." - Jim Elliot

I'm sitting in Taiwan with tears running down my face.

An email came through from one of my best friends, Trey Humphreys.

Subject line:
"Feedback & Suggestions?"

He was delivering a eulogy for a close friend. A week earlier, he reached out and asked a single question: What makes a great eulogy? He knew my Dad passed away when I was young and I had to give one before. It was the hardest speech of my life.

My answer was simple: When someone lives a great life and we get a glimpse of how they did it.

I opened his email.
Read it.

And wrote back one line:
Change Nothing.

This is what he shared:

"Don't Wait"
When I first got to the hospital, I stood beside his bed while his wife held his hand and updated me on everything. It wasn’t good. But then she said something I haven’t stopped thinking about since. She said: “Don’t wait.”

She talked about how they had plans someday.
To move out to the country someday.
To grow old together someday.
To do all the things… someday.
And standing there beside him…
I realized something.

He had already been teaching us that lesson for twenty years.

He never waited to say “I love you.”
He never waited to show up.
He never waited to help somebody.
He never waited to hug you.
He never waited to LIVE.
Don’t wait.

I truly believe his heart was full.
I believe it did exactly what it was put here on Earth to do.
Love as many people as possible…as hard as possible…for as long as possible.

Love as many people as possible…
as hard as possible…
for as long as possible.

And then one quiet Friday morning two weeks ago…
He finally turned in his keys.

To all of us:
He did not wait.
He showed up fully.
Completely.
Every single day.
He may not have lived the longest life…
But lord, he lived the fullest one.
So if there’s one thing I believe he would want every person in this room to remember tonight, it’s this:

Love people while you still can.
Don’t wait to move to the country.
Don’t wait to say “I love you.”
Don’t wait to show up for somebody.
Because he didn’t wait.
He carried all of us.
Now it’s our turn to carry each other…
and carry him forward.

Dash of Courage
Don't wait to live fully.
That's it.
That's the lesson.
And honestly, what a beautiful lesson to leave behind.

Courage over Comfort,
Garrett