Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze died this week. I’m not a huge fan, but I’m a huge fan of the lesson his death teaches.

Here’s what struck me. When Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008, he was given a five-week prognosis. He lived for twenty more months.

In those twenty months, he worked. He made a TV series. He gave interviews. He kept going.

Now, I don’t know what drove him. I don’t know if it was ego, or legacy, or love of craft, or simply the inability to stop. But I do know this: he didn’t use his diagnosis as a reason to give up.

Most of us are waiting for perfect conditions before we give ourselves fully to something. We’re waiting for the right time, the right circumstances, the right level of certainty.

Patrick Swayze didn’t have certainty. He had twenty months, if he was lucky. And he used them.

What are you waiting for?