In 2013, my 27-year old Manager at Google and my 27-year old college friend died in unrelated, unexpected tragedies. It shocked and terrified me, and I developed a fear of death that began to take over my life: I would imagine getting hit as I crossed an intersection, envision how the phone call would go when I got the news that my mom died, and avoided taking any risks out of fear of the unknown. It completely clouded the beauty of life.

About a year later, my colleague and adventure idol Dan Fredinburg was killed in the Nepal earthquake while climbing Mount Everest at 33 years old. As I struggled to make sense of the loss, I realized that he knew he might die climbing that mountain, but that he had to climb it to truly live.

In that moment, everything changed for me: I realized that I have absolutely no control over when or how I die -- but I have complete control over how I live until that mystery moment comes. All of the energy I spent on my fear of dying was instantly channeled instead into living every day like I might die tomorrow. 

Since then, I have made radical shifts in my life to better align with my soul -- including quitting my job at Google, traveling around the world for two years, and writing a book about how thinking about your death makes life better -- but no shift has been as radical as my shift in perspective. I live urgently, love wildly, and am so grateful to be alive. 

Life is beautiful. Experience it with me via this blog, on social media, and in my upcoming book, You Might Die Tomorrow. 

With love,
-kate the great