Review: What’s Your Expiry Date?
Photo by Marco Ro.
At 18, Patrick Mathieu was told by the top heart surgeons in Canada that he would not live past 30. This news turned out to be the greatest gift he ever received.
In his book What’s Your Expiry Date?, Patrick shares his inspiring story of how at an early age he was forced to confront the fact that he would die. You see, Patrick was born with a “bad” heart that has confounded cardiologists since his birth. The death sentence Patrick was given at 18 proved to be a wake up call that forever changed the way he would approach life.
This book is packed full with insightful messages. The following are a few of my favorites:
Come to Terms With Your Own Death
I will die. So will you.
Western society seems to have a problem acknowledging death. Industries are devoted to convincing us that we are immortal. For example, there is an endless assortment of cosmetics that promise to reverse the aging process.
In Mexico, the people are well known for celebrating a holiday called The Day of the Dead. According to Wikipedia, “the traditional mood for this holiday is bright with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the dead.” I bring this up only because it shows that death is a fact of life that can be feared and ignored, or it can be accepted and even embraced.
In his book, Patrick encourages the reader to comes to terms with their death as soon as possible. He writes, “if we don’t acknowledge death, we run the risk of moving through life always assuming that there will be enough time.”
Embrace the Present
How would being told you will die change your perspective on life?
As would be expected, Patrick initially struggled with the news. What he found, though, was that by embracing his mortality he could live a life of excitement and power. He made a solemn vow that he would not take each day for granted. Patrick writes, “many people spend so much time thinking about the future, they forget that the only way to get there is through a series of todays.”
Live with Purpose and Mindful Awareness
Many people only wake up to the important things in life after a traumatic experience such as a car crash or a heart attack.
In his book, Patrick is determined to wake the reader up to the important things in life, without the need for the pain associated with traumatic experiences. Some readers may be uncomfortable with Patrick’s piercing honesty, but personally I found it refreshing.
Perhaps worse than a traumatic experience would be coming to the end of your life and realizing that you had lived a life lacking in purpose and/ or based on fear. I agree with Patrick that the best way to avoid this potential regret is to live a life filled with purpose and mindful awareness.
Final Thoughts
Upon reading a book in which one of the central messages is “you will die”, you might expect to be left feeling depressed. However, the effect of What’s Your Expiry Date?, was quite the opposite for me. I felt inspired, I felt powerful, I felt full of life.
The book doesn’t take long to read, but packed within its pages is a powerful message and some wonderful insights. In this sense, the book reminded somewhat of Paul Coelho’s The Alchemist (which is one of my favorite books).
Apart from buying What’s Your Expiry Date?, you learn more about Patrick’s story by visiting his blog The Power of Mortality.
Further Watching:
Patrick’s story of facing his own mortality reminded me of a similar story told by Steve Jobs. I’m sure many of my readers have seen the following video, but if you haven’t it is a must watch.
17 Comments
November 19th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
THANK you for a great post and review Peter. I love stuff like this and will certainly pick up the book. It really is hard to get this kind of perspective while we are moving through our lives…thanks again,
Todd
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November 19th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Peter,
Thanks for helping people to see some of the important messages in this book.
As you indicated, there is an inappropriate belief that something really bad has to happen in order to wake us up, and I don’t get that.
Why should we wait until a brush with death before we start to appreciate life? I say bring on the life now, and death will come when it comes!
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November 19th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Great article Peter! This one really hit home for me. I’ve had a lot of stuff happening in my life lately that brings this point home. Thanks for this!
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November 19th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Great article.
Here is a similar situation regarding Randy Pausch, who has pancreatic cancer.
Here is a link to his “Last Lecture” video. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/
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November 20th, 2007 at 2:50 am
Peter - I agree with the concept that the only thing sadder than a life lived too short; is a life lived without realizing one’s purpose or passion. Thank you for sharing this book.
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November 20th, 2007 at 4:31 am
I’ve just blogged about this Peter. I wouldn’t have suspected it when I woke up but today I faced my expiration date when three guys heavily armed wanted to rob my car and my house. Fortunately I’m still here, and I must thank God for this. I’m still quite shocked for the moment and I can’t sleep still reviewing that moment over and over…
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November 20th, 2007 at 6:30 am
We are all going to die - it’s just a matter of when, but the thought of knowing is terrifying to most. I can also see how it would be very liberating.
Thanks for a great article. Keep them coming.
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November 20th, 2007 at 8:49 am
I’ve only recently started to think about my mortality. It never seemed to bother me before but now it terrifies me, and I’ve no idea why my feelings about it changed. If I start to think about it, I could easily have a panic attack. A book like this appeals to me but I don’t think I could handle it just yet. I can’t imagine being able to think about dying without freaking out about it. Not knowing what’s going to happen to me when I die scares the hell out of me!
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November 20th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Peter: Thanks so much for a wonderful review of my book. I really appreciate your help in spreading the word about The Power of Mortality™. Just imagine how different the world would be if people no longer feared dying and were able to concentrate on actually LIVING!
Keep up the good work Peter!
ENJOY NOW!
-Patrick
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November 20th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Tupac Shakur also had the same kind of effect, where he believed that he would die early and therefore focused on getting all that he needed to get out before he passed. Unfortunately, some people think that him embracing death lead to his ultimate demise.
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November 20th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Thanks! This is a topic near and dear to my heart. It’s one reason I have so much trouble with the Law of Attraction. It seems to me that approach misses out on the deepest part of human existence.
When my daughter was born it seemed such a miracle that I was convinced she wouldn’t live to see her first birthday. Morbid? Not at all. It just meant the experience of that first year was spent in sacred space. It didn’t matter how long it lasted, it was one of the most profound periods of my life. And, unlike the LoA would predict, she not only survived, she’s doing very well years later.
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November 21st, 2007 at 3:28 pm
[...] If you want to dig deeper into the thought of your mortality and why this matters please take a look on Peter’s article about What’s your expiry date? [...]
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
John Wooden, former UCLA Basketball coach, once said “Make everyday your Masterpiece”. Those are my 4 words of advice.
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