What would your ‘Life End Video’ look like?

There’s a new fad on Facebook. Nearly everyone I know suddenly has videos of their ‘year summaries’ neatly posted on their timelines. Relatives are getting annoyed as to why they were left out of the video or received just scant attention. As it happens, it’s not really their fault. Google automatically compiles the video based upon your online activity and photos that you posted. Not what you should’ve been doing or could’ve been doing. Only what you actually did. In other words, it’s a true reflection of whose actually important in your life and who isn’t. That’s why it’s so powerful.

Our tradition tells us that a similar video is shown to us when we leave this world. All our life’s experiences, acquaintances and special moments are shown to us. (This sounds pretty consistent with the expression we often hear from people who survived life threatening moments of how ‘they saw their life flash before their eyes’.)

As 2014 comes to a close this week, what kind of video would your life show? Unedited. Uncut. Just raw footage of what was important to you this year.

A Ganav is a thief. Not someone who could’ve stolen. Neither is it someone who would’ve stolen. Not even someone who should’ve stolen. Just someone who actually steals. 

Similarly, a mentsch isn’t could’ve, should’ve or even would’ve done the right thing. A mentsch is the one who did it.

Our life videos reflect who we actually were and not who we could’ve been; the nice things we actually said and not the ones we should’ve said; what we actually did and not what we would’ve done.

Could’ve, Should’ve, Would’ve– they all don’t count. All that counts is what you actually did!

Lets make sure that our ‘Life End Videos‘ are those that Facebook Friends would want to see and share because they’re powerful.

Lets make next year better, not in the ‘could’ve, should’ve, would’ve’, but in the actual!