The last article you’ll ever read

Alexandru Pavaloi
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

When I watch motivational videos or listen to inspiring podcasts, I often hear the phrase:

Live each day as if it were your last!

I get all inspired and pumped up hearing the likes of Steve Jobs and Eric Thomas say it, but when I get down to actually following the advice it’s not so straight forward.

Do I quit my job and spend the rest of the day saying goodbyes?

Because, who needs a career if you’ve only got a day left?

Who cares about improving yourself when you’re not gonna be around to see the improved YOU in the mirror?

Or maybe I should travel? Hmm…I wouldn’t get very far though…

I can’t even start reading books because there’s only so much I can read in 24 hours. What if I die never knowing the END!?


Living each day as it were my last is super inspiring but in practice it didn’t work so well for me. So, I though of something a little bit different:

What if we would live, not each day but each EXPERIENCE as if it were our last?

What if, for example, this article would be the last one you’ll ever read. Not only here on Medium but anywhere.

Doesn’t it get just a little more special just by being the last?

Wouldn’t you try and absorb every word, sentence and thought from the last ever read article?


Or what if:

You’re at work.
5 minutes till 5 o’clock.
You can’t wait to finish today.
When you realize this is the last today at this workplace…

Without preparing for it or knowing about it in advance you realize that those last 5 minutes will be your final ones working with those colleagues, for this company…

Are you as excited as before of going home?

Or does a sense of nostalgia take hold of you? Don’t you just want to do the things you never did? The things you delayed because it seemed there will always be another time for them?


I believe that asking ourselves

What if this is the last time I ever _______?

creates a sense of urgency that leads to the desire of squeezing EVERYTHING there is from whatever we’re doing.

There were so many times during my Erasmus adventure when I said no to living. I was too tired, too broke or too bored. I was saying to myself:

You’ll be here for another three months. You have enough time…

But I didn’t. I returned home with a lot of lost opportunities. I’m not saying I didn’t live my Erasmus, only that I could have lived it more.


So, in the end, I leave you with a challenge:

Pause whatever you are doing right now…
Look around you, notice the people and the environment
And ask yourself:
What if this is the last time I ever ____?


If this post resonated with you in any way, please click the little ❤ icon so that it can resonate with others!

PS: this is dedicated to my Erasmus mates at Kanaalstraat 173. Miss you all!

Alexandru Pavaloi

Written by

#JavaScript troublemaker 🤡 — aka: developer, speaker & trainer! Creator of @devDriveApp and bike lover 🚵‍♂️!

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