Jim Moret: Making Every Moment Count

Living Each Day As If It Were Your Last

By Jim Moret

For years, I seemed to have it all – a glamorous television career, a loving wife and kids, and a beautiful home. But overwhelming debt sent my life into a tailspin, and I began to think I was more valuable dead than alive. Like Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” I imagined how my family and friends would cope without me. Consumed by a sense of hopelessness and despair, I almost took that final dark step.

One day I was driving on a desolate, narrow and windy road in the hills above Malibu. Despite getting my career back on track after joining Inside Edition, being out of work for a couple of years had brought mounting debt, and my sub-prime mortgage was about to reset at an unaffordable level. I suddenly had the darkest of thoughts - I could go over the edge of the cliff in my car and it would look like an accident. My family could collect the life insurance. The plan was so clear in my mind that it frightened me. I stopped the car right there. As I sat behind the wheel, I could clearly see that everything would NOT be okay at all. My death would cause my wife and our three children overwhelming grief and sadness.

Instead, I asked myself a simple question that changed my life completely and enabled me to reset my priorities: What would I do if I had only 24 hours to live? What would I be grateful for? What would I say to those I had hurt? Could I forgive the people who had hurt me? How would I define my legacy?

I made a list of the true measures of success, not in financial terms but in spiritual terms. I share with you the 10 secrets to a happy life that I discovered. They helped me restart my life, and I hope they will do the same for you.

Jim Moret is Chief Correspondent of the syndicated television news magazine Inside Edition and author of the inspirational memoir “The Last Day of My Life”( Phoenix Books). Jim adapting this from his book. For More information visit www.jimmoret.com.

Appreciating Love and Family

In my darkest moment, the thing that literally kept me alive was the love of my wife and our three children. I have told them that they truly saved my life. I am convinced there is no power greater than love to inspire, comfort, elevate, heal, and define the human spirit. As important as love is the expression of love both in words and actions. Love is not something to take for granted.

Make a list of the people even beyond your immediate family who mean the most to you. Imagine receiving a call from someone telling you how important you are to them – how you changed their life in a meaningful way and all they wanted to do was make sure you knew. It would feel amazing, wouldn’t it? It’s time for you to make those calls.

Being Willing to Sacrifice

It may seem paradoxical, but when you make a sacrifice you actually get more than you give up. Years ago, my wife and I briefly separated after 17 years of marriage. At that same time my two television programs in Los Angeles were abruptly canceled, and I was told that in order to remain with CNN, the network which had been my home for a decade, I would have to relocate to Atlanta. My choice was simple: career or family. I sacrificed my career in order to save my family, and I am proud to say that my wife and I recently celebrated our 27^th anniversary.

What do you value so much that you would gladly give up something, perhaps everything, in order to save it? Would it be your family or your marriage? It took almost losing everything to realize what I really wanted to keep.

Making a Stronger Commitment

When faced with the loss our marriage, my wife and I rededicated ourselves to making our relationship work. If our relationship could be fixed, we were determined to fix it. After months of hard work, we discovered something beautiful – we had fallen in love with each other again. I decided that my commitment to my wife and to our marriage needed to be acknowledged in a very public way. So with the help of our oldest daughter, I planned a surprise ceremony to celebrate our 20th anniversary. It was one of the most meaningful events of my life.

Make a list of the things, principles, and people to which you are truly committed. It’s a valuable list to make and revisit as often as you can.

Being Willing to Forgive

If you had one day left, would you forgive the person who hurt you most? Could you do so without demanding any punishment or retribution? Forgiveness can be liberating because anger and resentment are emotional shackles that choke your soul.

I came from a broken home and both my parents remarried early in my childhood. When I was thirteen, my biological father agreed to allow my stepfather to legally adopt me. For years, I felt a sense of loss, anger, and abandonment which, despite our reconciling years later, still threatened to destroy the rekindled relationship with my father. Through the simple act of forgiveness, I was able to see the pain my father’s actions brought him as well, and I was finally able to let go of the pain.

For me, the act of forgiveness felt almost as if I was finally able to exhale after holding my breath for decades. Who are the people in your life who may deserve your forgiveness?

Believing in Miracles

I believe in miracles. I have witnessed one first hand. Our 11-year-old son was suffering the excruciating pain of a nerve injury that rendered him unable to walk or even to touch his foot. Watching him scream in agony for days on end left my wife and me in tears, feeling helpless and alone. After weeks of treatment, something remarkable happened – the pain suddenly went away. Whether it was a result of his medication, physical therapy, the power of prayer, or everything combined, I cannot say.

The amazing thing about miracles is that they can occur at any time when you least expect them. Think about that last day and consider what miracles can happen, even then. The important thing about miracles isn’t that they happen. It’s the belief that they can happen. Start believing.

Seeking Redemption

A wonderful thing happened to me on this journey of self-discovery. I found redemption. I have finally freed myself of the shackles of childhood guilt. I have discovered salvation through how I have chosen to live my own life since then.

I came to realize that my value was not determined by a number on my bank statement, but rather in the people I had touched, the relationships I had cultivated and cherished, and by the kind of person I was. I realized the importance of friendship, love, compassion, sacrifice, commitment, passion, miracles and all those intangibles that I believe in, even though they cannot easily seen or quantified. That day, on that road, I had an epiphany. I realized I not only chose to live, but I chose HOW I would live.

You have the power to choose your own path in life. How will you choose?