Make the Last Months of Your Life Matter?

So, I heard a commercial today for a hospice service. The tagline was "make the last few months of your life matter." I get the point...we want our loved ones to have as much fulfillment as they can when the end is coming near. There are hospice services that can be directly tailored to the needs and wants of each individual. I think this is nice. I also found the commercial a bit jarring. Why would I wait until the end of my life to make it matter, to enjoy it or to leave my mark on the world? Isn't this what we should be doing the whole time? Make your whole life matter, so that at the end, whenever it does come, you can look back on a very full life. When my time comes (hopefully later rather than sooner!), I want to look back and think the following things:

• I loved even when it was hard to love. 
• I connected with God.
• I made at least one person, other than myself, happy each day.
• I have no regrets-everything that I did wrong, that hurt others or hurt me, made me better for it in the end.
• I showed compassion to people and to animals. 
• I had fun. 

I'm sure this is just a start to my list, and doesn't include the myriad of things on my own personal bucket list that ranges from everything to travel the world, scuba dive and give blood (just to name a few!), but I hope that you will think about what matters in your life. Chances are, it isn't so much the job you feel you need to work harder at, but maybe the person you sleep next to each night and the little hands that hold onto you and grow up all to quickly that matter the most. Maybe we should live life like the whole darn thing matters. I think it does.