Last week I lost my precious friend, Louis Amoroso, at the age of 45 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. The picture is at my 40th birthday party where he came not knowing a soul and leaving as friends with everyone.
Louis spent his life inspiring others so I thought it only fitting to share some of that with you in hopes he touches your heart too.
- Life is short. Eat the sugar. In Louis’ final days, a few of us were blessed to be with him and a conversation about how bad sugar was for us came up. (It may seem like a strange conversation to have at such a meaningful time. It was right for the moment given all that was going on.) I said how much I like sugar because it makes me sweet as the judgments arose inside knowing that I could probably cut it out and be “healthier”. He looked at me with a huge smile in his eyes and said “Life is short. Eat the sugar.” What pleasures are you holding yourself back from because of judgements? Life is short. Let the judgements go.
- Honor your agreements – Two weeks before Louis passed away, I had the honor of him asking me to work with one of his clients. It was a hard call for both of us because we both knew what this meant. What stands out to me as well is how much he cared for his client and keeping his agreement even with so little time left. How we do one thing, is how we do all things. In Louis’ transitioning, it showed me how he lived with full integrity. Is there anywhere you might be living out of alignment? What could you do to honor your agreements with yourself or others?
- What would you do if you could not fail? Louis was a brilliant life coach and his favorite, most powerful, question he asked was “What would you do if you could not fail?” So, I ask you, what might you try if you threw failure to the wind…
I am also using this time to reflect on how I want to live to be remembered by.
I leave you with this which was read at Louis’ celebration of life…
When you love,
give it everything you’ve got
and when you’ve reached your limit,
give it more
and forget the pain of it
because as you face your death,
it’s only the love which will count.
All the rest,
the accomplishments and struggles,
the fights,
will be forgotten in your reflection
and if you have loved well,
then it will have been worth it
and the joy of it will last you through to the end,
but if you have not death will always come too soon
and be too terrible to face.
~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross