How to Really Live Life to the Fullest
October 31, 2001 | 12:00am
Hope the title didn’t bring chills up and down your spine. It’s that time of the year when the living honor the dead, when we remember our dead loved ones even as they continue to live in our hearts. Yup, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are just around the corner. And it’s as good a time as any to reflect on our own mortality. But who would really want to think of dying? Maybe no one, except this nun named Karol Jackowski who’s come up with quite a nun-sensical and fun book (that’s so un-Halloween) titled Ten Fun Things to Do Before You Die (available at Goodwill Bookstore).
Nun other than Karol Jackowski can write blending wholesome humor and holy wisdom. Here, let me give you the good sister’s list and my own interpretation:
1. Have fun more than anyone else. How? Here are four ways:
• Find fun people. Hang out with people who make you laugh  they’ll get you through a really rough or bad hair day. Next time you’re so stressed out and feel like tossing something (or someone?) in frustration or dismay, try this  it’s worked for me!
• Don’t think about yourself around other people. In a word, don’t be egocentric. There are people who love listening to their own voice. Stop talking and pay attention to what other people have to say. For one thing, you learn something new. For another, people will want to hang around with you because somehow they’d think you actually care for them, enough to listen to what they have to say. It pays not only to be interesting but to be interested, too!
• Be a fun person. Sister Karol says that inside each one of us lies a playful soul and it’s our holy duty to feed it and nurture it till the day we die. For starters, I say we should learn to laugh at our mistakes.
• If it looks like fun and it doesn’t break the Ten Commandments, do it. For me, this simply means that if something won’t hurt you or another person, go for it! You don’t have to be a thrill seeker to have fun. Just do what you wanna do.
2. Get some insight. Insights need not really be the deep stuff that they teach you during retreats. They don’t have to make you cry. You could develop insight by thinking about where you wanna go, what you wanna do and who you wanna be with. That’ll eventually get you to thinking about more serious stuff like, "Where are all these things leading me to?"
3. Get some depth. Now, we’re going deeper! As the poet Rilke said, "Go into your self and see how deep the place is from which your life flows." You will most likely find your best and worst self there, says Sister Karol. So start digging.
4. Find a place to escape reality. Don’t take this literally or else, you might commit suicide. For me, it means when you get fed up with whatever you’re doing, just get away from it for a while. Besides, you’ll never have your job done the way you like it if you’re not really into it.
5. Write something at the end of every day. Or take up a hobby that relaxes you inside out. Okay, all write?
6. Think about nuns. This may sound a bit self-serving, but trust Sister Karol and bless her pure heart.
7. Make yourself interesting. Sister Karol lists four ways you could be interesting:
• Cultivate a diverse group of friends. Sister Karol said it all when she said, "What better way to make yourself interesting than to surround yourself with those different from and more interesting than you?"
• Work. According to Sister Karol, there are three biggest finds in your life: Your best self, God and your best work  not necessarily in that order. And our real job before we die is to find out what we really like to do, what sparks our interest the most. What could be more fun, says Katharine Graham, than to love what you do and feel that it matters?
• Educate yourself. This need not mean the stuff you learn in school. It’s what you learn from life, from each day that comes, till the day we die.
• Take sides. Be brave, take a stand, don’t be Miss Congeniality or Mr. Popularity. God hates lukewarm people, says Sister Karol. But pick your battles carefully.
8. Live alone for a while. Of course, there are the pros and cons.
The best parts of living alone:
• Finding peace and quiet. This is self-explanatory.
• Hearing voices other than your own. Of course, Sister Karol refers to the other voices as God’s voice. God doesn’t speak to us unless we are alone because I guess that’s the only time we really listen to Him.
• Finding your very best self. Living alone will test you to your limits since you have no choice but to do everything on your own, from the laundry to the cooking (unless you live on takeouts) and giving your house the semblance of a home. If this doesn’t bring out the very best in you, I don’t know what will.
• Find new life. You’ll discover that there’s a new life and energy that solitude offers.
The worst parts of living alone:
• It’s hard work. I guess this is self-explanatory.
• It’s more stressful. Having no one to talk to when you need someone to listen can be really frustrating. Everybody needs somebody at certain points in their lives.
• It’s more expensive. Bills, bills, bills! And the worst part is, you have no one to share them with!
9. Treat yourself. Treat yourself and others well, Sister Karol admonishes. Give yourself a treat for a job well done. Treat yourself to a massage, a large slice of decadent chocolate cake or a double scoop of cookies ’n’ creme ice cream. You owe it to yourself!
10. Live like you got nothing to lose. "It’s the closest to heaven you can get," says Sister Karol. "All parts of life gradually become noticeably more divine, noticeably more fun than ever before. Here, too, we have one of life‘s wildest mysteries  the end and the beginning running into each other over and over again like some kind of eternal life. Which is what these 10 things aim to do for you before you die: Show you how to undo misery and death and live forever."
Amen to that.
Nun other than Karol Jackowski can write blending wholesome humor and holy wisdom. Here, let me give you the good sister’s list and my own interpretation:
1. Have fun more than anyone else. How? Here are four ways:
• Find fun people. Hang out with people who make you laugh  they’ll get you through a really rough or bad hair day. Next time you’re so stressed out and feel like tossing something (or someone?) in frustration or dismay, try this  it’s worked for me!
• Don’t think about yourself around other people. In a word, don’t be egocentric. There are people who love listening to their own voice. Stop talking and pay attention to what other people have to say. For one thing, you learn something new. For another, people will want to hang around with you because somehow they’d think you actually care for them, enough to listen to what they have to say. It pays not only to be interesting but to be interested, too!
• Be a fun person. Sister Karol says that inside each one of us lies a playful soul and it’s our holy duty to feed it and nurture it till the day we die. For starters, I say we should learn to laugh at our mistakes.
• If it looks like fun and it doesn’t break the Ten Commandments, do it. For me, this simply means that if something won’t hurt you or another person, go for it! You don’t have to be a thrill seeker to have fun. Just do what you wanna do.
2. Get some insight. Insights need not really be the deep stuff that they teach you during retreats. They don’t have to make you cry. You could develop insight by thinking about where you wanna go, what you wanna do and who you wanna be with. That’ll eventually get you to thinking about more serious stuff like, "Where are all these things leading me to?"
3. Get some depth. Now, we’re going deeper! As the poet Rilke said, "Go into your self and see how deep the place is from which your life flows." You will most likely find your best and worst self there, says Sister Karol. So start digging.
4. Find a place to escape reality. Don’t take this literally or else, you might commit suicide. For me, it means when you get fed up with whatever you’re doing, just get away from it for a while. Besides, you’ll never have your job done the way you like it if you’re not really into it.
5. Write something at the end of every day. Or take up a hobby that relaxes you inside out. Okay, all write?
6. Think about nuns. This may sound a bit self-serving, but trust Sister Karol and bless her pure heart.
7. Make yourself interesting. Sister Karol lists four ways you could be interesting:
• Cultivate a diverse group of friends. Sister Karol said it all when she said, "What better way to make yourself interesting than to surround yourself with those different from and more interesting than you?"
• Work. According to Sister Karol, there are three biggest finds in your life: Your best self, God and your best work  not necessarily in that order. And our real job before we die is to find out what we really like to do, what sparks our interest the most. What could be more fun, says Katharine Graham, than to love what you do and feel that it matters?
• Educate yourself. This need not mean the stuff you learn in school. It’s what you learn from life, from each day that comes, till the day we die.
• Take sides. Be brave, take a stand, don’t be Miss Congeniality or Mr. Popularity. God hates lukewarm people, says Sister Karol. But pick your battles carefully.
8. Live alone for a while. Of course, there are the pros and cons.
The best parts of living alone:
• Finding peace and quiet. This is self-explanatory.
• Hearing voices other than your own. Of course, Sister Karol refers to the other voices as God’s voice. God doesn’t speak to us unless we are alone because I guess that’s the only time we really listen to Him.
• Finding your very best self. Living alone will test you to your limits since you have no choice but to do everything on your own, from the laundry to the cooking (unless you live on takeouts) and giving your house the semblance of a home. If this doesn’t bring out the very best in you, I don’t know what will.
• Find new life. You’ll discover that there’s a new life and energy that solitude offers.
The worst parts of living alone:
• It’s hard work. I guess this is self-explanatory.
• It’s more stressful. Having no one to talk to when you need someone to listen can be really frustrating. Everybody needs somebody at certain points in their lives.
• It’s more expensive. Bills, bills, bills! And the worst part is, you have no one to share them with!
9. Treat yourself. Treat yourself and others well, Sister Karol admonishes. Give yourself a treat for a job well done. Treat yourself to a massage, a large slice of decadent chocolate cake or a double scoop of cookies ’n’ creme ice cream. You owe it to yourself!
10. Live like you got nothing to lose. "It’s the closest to heaven you can get," says Sister Karol. "All parts of life gradually become noticeably more divine, noticeably more fun than ever before. Here, too, we have one of life‘s wildest mysteries  the end and the beginning running into each other over and over again like some kind of eternal life. Which is what these 10 things aim to do for you before you die: Show you how to undo misery and death and live forever."
Amen to that.
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