advice from 95 year olds

(This article is a repost from February 5, 2008.)

I enjoy learning from a guy named Tony Campolo. I listen to his podcast a lot & have read a few of his books. I'm currently in the middle of about 50 books right now & one of them happens to be Adventures in Missing the Point which Tony co-authored with Brian Mclaren. I really like the book and it has a lot of interesting stuff that really pushes my presuppositions.

At some point in the last year or so I heard Tony talk about a really cool survey he did. In staff meeting on Monday morning our lead pastor Chris talked about this survey & it was an awesome reminder for me. I'm so glad Chris talked with us about it. Basically, Campolo polled a bunch of 95 year olds!!! & asked them this question:

"If you could go back and live your life differently, what would you change?"

WOW! What a great question. When those 95 yr. old dudes started talking I bet Tony was on the edge of his seat! They've got the best perspective for a 25 yr. old like me who will be in their shoes one day. Here were their top 3 answers:

1) I would have reflected more
I don't think any of us do enough of this. We're too busy. We're too scared. We're too satisfied with our current situations and productions. I want to constantly reflect and evaluate the job that God is giving me another breath to do.

2) I would have risked more
Man, I'm gonna be a risk taker! I never want the fear of the risk to hold me back from doing something pimp for God's kingdom!!! I'm not holding back. I can handle coming to the end of my life and saying, "I made some really stupid mistakes." But I will not look back and think "I wish I wouldn't have been so careful and safe... I wish I would have went for it."

3) I would have invested more in things that would live on after I'm dead
WHOOOOO!!! This what I'm all about. I am going to live my life doing stuff that will continue to spread Jesus' fame 100 & hopefully 1,000 years after I'm dead! One of my best friends Ethan and I wrote our epitaphs a while back... I know that sounds pretty freaky, but it was an awesome exercise recommended in a book YOU NEED TO READ - Chazown. I want my epitaph to say that I was part of sparking a revolution that continued to spread God's renown for hundreds of years after I've kicked the bucket.

***Pretty cool Tony, thanks for doing the survey.
What will YOU say when YOU'RE 95? Will you have one of these 3 regrets? I hope not. What are you gonna do about it NOW?