If you knew you had only one month to live, how would you live it? Would you continue on as always, or would you make changes to make the most of the time you have left?

This is just one of the questions authors Kerry and Chris Shook, founders of a megachurch outside Houston, present in their New York Times best-seller book “;One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life.”;

One of my specialty areas as a professional organizer is time management. As my mentor, Harold Taylor of Canada, says, “;Time management is life management”;—the way we spend our time is the way we're spending our lives.

The opening line of a former daytime soap opera went, “;Like sands in an hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”;

The way I picture it, everyone's life is like an hourglass with varying amounts of sand. Some have enough to trickle down for years and years. Others have a limited amount. When the last grain has trickled down, it's “;game over,”; as they say. The puzzle is that no one knows how much sand is left in their own hourglass because the sand is invisible. Although I don't know how much is left in mine, I do know that at my age I have more sand in the bottom half than at the top.

After a recent birthday, I've been thinking a lot about life and how I've been living it; I've been comparing it with how I want to live the rest of my life.

“;One Month to Live”; was just the challenge I needed!

Without being morbid, the authors encourage readers to face their own mortality and live life to the fullest.

Their 30-day challenge is meant to help readers learn what it means to make the most of their lives and how to live with no regrets.

In 30 chapters, one for each day, they expound on four principles: Live passionately. Love completely. Learn humbly. Leave boldly.

According to the authors, to make the most of life, you must have clarity about what matters most, be spontaneous and risk your heart and do what needs to be done today.

Looking at tombstones in the cemetery, the authors recognize that entire lives are reduced to two dates—date of birth and date of death—and one little dash in between. They acknowledge that while we don't have control over many things in life, such as when we were born, who our parents are and the dates on our tombstone, there is one thing we have control of: how we use that dash.

While I am barely into the 30-day challenge, I am immensely more aware of time and life. I ask myself often, “;If I had only one month to live, would I be doing this?”; If the answer is “;no,”; I try to curtail it. If the answer is “;yes,”; I try to be engaged in it.

I've found it true that, as the authors write, “;even the mundane can become meaningful if we're plugged into each hour and each other.”;

So: returning back to the opening question, “;If you knew you had only one month to live, how would you live it?”;

The first exercise on day one is this: “;As quickly as possible, without thinking too hard or too long, make a list of five things you'd change about your life if you knew you only had a month to live. Choose at least one to begin changing today, right now.”;

That's a good place to start, and it will be time well spent.

In my next column, I'll share more insights and inspiration to live life to the fullest. See you in two weeks.

Ruth Wong owns Organization Plus. Her column runs the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Contact her by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).