The End Of The Road

Last week I was driving along one of the major highways around Toronto. I had some good music playing on my stereo and the weather was wonderful.

I am always a careful driver, so my attention was focused on my driving, but my thoughts were elsewhere. Suddenly, I noticed the sign warning that the highway was coming to an end just ahead. Only then did I realize that I had missed my exit!

Has that sort of thing ever happened to you?

This situation is an excellent illustration of why I consider the message of "Mindful Awareness" to be so very important. Consider that all of us are traveling down the highway of life. Each of us has an idea of which route we would like to be taking, but we must be constantly mindful or else we risk missing our turning points.

Sometimes a missed turn can be fixed by taking another turn and circling back. Sometimes an even better route presents itself. But sooner or later everyone will find themselves at the end of the highway and many people will be unprepared for the sudden ending of the journey. "I was so sure that the highway was longer than this!" they'll say.

My speaking, my book, my coaching and these weekly Mindful Moments all have a common goal. The entire point of my message to the world is to ensure that you don't reach the end of your highway only to look back and say:

"Had I known that it was going to end at this time, I would have made some different turns. I was sure that there would be time to change my course."

This is why I am constantly urging people to be mindful of the present moment.

This is why I encourage people to acknowledge, accept and even embrace their own mortality. One of my key principles is something that I call "The Mortality Manifesto". It is a very powerful one page document and I invite you to read it for yourself.

Then I invite you to share it with your family and friends, because we are ALL traveling down the highway of life.

About Patrick Mathieu
Patrick Mathieu has an expiry date. He was born with Congenital Heart Disease and at the age of eighteen he was told that the doctors "hoped" that he'd live to be 30 years old. They told him that his life was more than half over. Today, a barcode tattoo on his shoulder that reads 031800, or March 18, 2000 - the date of his 30th birthday - says differently. Rather than see this as a death sentence, he used this as a call to action. Through his speaking, writing and coaching, he now shares his deeply personal story with audiences everywhere and reveals the exciting insights that this life experience has given him. He helps people come to terms with death, which actually helps them experience fuller, more vital lives.

Visit http://www.whatsyourexpirydate.com

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President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the economy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.,  Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire and long-lasting consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the national economy, making an urgent pitch Thursday for his mammoth spending proposal in his first speech since the election.



Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., right, accompanied by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep John Spratt, D-S.C., left, takes part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington,  Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs.



Palestinians throw stones at an Israeli watch-tower during a protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. Militants in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into northern Israel on Thursday, ripping through a crowded nursing home and threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed about 700 people. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)AP - The U.N. halted deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Thursday after gunfire from an Israeli tank killed an aid truck driver, and the threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel.



Pedestrians walk past Generations Menswear on 8th Ave. in New York Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Retailers are reporting dismal sales for December, confirming fears that the holiday season was the weakest in four decades.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)AP - Retailers reported dismal sales figures for December on Thursday as even Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.



President-elect Barack Obama makes remarks on the nations economy, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - Barack Obama is officially the next president of the United States, Congress declared Thursday in fulfilling its centuries-old constitutional duty to certify and tally the electoral college vote from each state.



A sign instructs job seekers at the California Employment Development Department in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. The country lost nearly 2 million jobs through November and more bad news is expected this week when the government releases data on weekly jobless claims and December unemployment. No matter how bad those numbers are, and economists expect at least another 500,000 jobs were lost last month, the pain is stretching into 2009.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - The number of people continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the recession enters its second year.



In this Jan. 5, 2009 file photo, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff leaves U.S. District Court in Manhattan after a bail hearing in New York. A defense lawyer for Bernard Madoff is expected to submit written arguments Wednesday to a judge who is probing whether the disgraced Wall Street financier should be jailed before trial. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month.



AP - Researchers at Cornell University have discovered that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes — the ones that spread diseases like yellow and dengue fever — alter their wing vibrations in a mating signal.

A florist delivery worker carries a wreath of flowers at the entrance to Jumbolair Aviation Estates, where actor John Travolta and his family have a home Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009  near Ocala, Fla. Friends and relatives are expected for a ceremony Thursday to be held for the death of the Travolta's sixteen year old son Jett, who died while in the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)AP - John Travolta and his family were expected to host a private memorial service Thursday for their son, 16-year-old Jett Travolta, at their home in a central Florida gated community.



This Sept. 7, 2007 file photo shows Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz tipping his hat to fans as he leaves the game after giving up a hit to Washington Nationals' Ronnie Belliard, ending Smoltz's bid for a no-hitter, during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Turner Field in Atlanta. Smoltz has reached a preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox, a stunning end to his long career with the Atlanta Braves. The deal was expected to be finalized later Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith, File)AP - After more than two decades with the Braves, John Smoltz appears likely to finish his stellar career wearing a different uniform. In a stunning end to one of baseball's longest runs, Smoltz reached preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox after failing to work out a deal to return for his 22nd season with the Braves.



President-elect Barack Obama at a news conference in Chicago, December 7, 2008. (Jeff Haynes/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama warned on Thursday that the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action and he urged lawmakers to work day and night to pass a massive stimulus plan.



Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip January 7, 2009. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)Reuters - Palestinians faced even grimmer conditions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a U.N. aid agency halted work, saying its staff were at risk from Israeli forces fighting Hamas militants, after two drivers were killed.



A customer shops at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, June 5, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other top U.S. retailers delivered disappointing December same-store sales and profit warnings on Thursday, sparking fresh recession concerns that hit stock and currency markets.



Bernard Madoff is escorted from Federal Court in New York January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)Reuters - A search of accused swindler Bernard Madoff's office desk revealed he had signed checks totaling more than $173 million ready to be sent, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.



A device that distributes gas from the underground reserves is seen at the natural gas storage facility of Turkish Petroleum Corporation in Kinali, some 100 km (62 miles) west of Istanbul, January 7, 2009. (Osman Orsal/Reuters)Reuters - Russia said on Thursday it would restore gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine once international monitors were in place, but Moscow and Kiev remained at odds over the terms of any supervision.



People walk past the Bank of England in central London, January 8, 2009. (Rob Bodman/Reuters)Reuters - Economic weakness in Europe worsened and disappointing sales from Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, knocked financial markets lower on Thursday, strengthening the case for government stimulus and new rate cuts.



Reuters - A criminal probe into the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects is almost finished, court papers made public this week show.

A man looks at a large screen displaying India's benchmark share index on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange building in Mumbai, January 7, 2009. (Punit Paranjpe/Reuters)Reuters - India's Satyam Computer faces a crisis of "unimaginable proportions," its interim chief executive said a day after the chairman revealed profits had been falsely inflated for years.



Palestinian protestors throw stones at Israeli soldiers following a demonstration in the West Bank village of Bilin. The main UN Palestinian relief agency halted work in Gaza on Thursday after a driver was killed and the death toll from Israel's war on Hamas rose to more than 760 after dozens of bodies were found in the rubble.(AFP/Abbas Momani)AFP - Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.



A man warms himself near a stove in a bar in the town of Belovo, Bulgaria. EU-sponsored talks collapsed Thursday between Russia and Ukraine on resolving a gas dispute that has cut supplies to Europe in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, with Moscow blamed for the failure.(AFP/Boryana Katsarova)AFP - EU-sponsored talks collapsed Thursday between Russia and Ukraine on resolving a gas dispute that has cut supplies to Europe in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, with Moscow blamed for the failure.




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