It's a great thought experiment to get us to think about what is truly important -
No one is going to answer "work more" or "continue to conform to other's expectations of me." or any other thing that we are taught to believe are important.
Sure having some savings is important, your health is important (except maybe not so much in this instance), but really life is about experiencing life not creating shareholder value or working hard to blend into the crowd just to make other people less uncomfortable.
I know I went off on a tangent, I do that often. But I've been thinking more about how in the west we are taught aggressively from a young age what is deemed important (work, money, prestige, name brand things, etc) and what is frivolous (hobbies, family, friends, etc) and then people wonder why life sucks. It doesn't suck, it's that you are trying to conform to something that goes against your true nature.
To answer the question: travel, spend time with people I love, play video games, eat more cheeseburgers, drink more beer.
Prove him wrong and drive my motorcycle into a highway median at top speed 5 minutes later. I’ll be god dammed if I’m gonna let some doctor think he got the better of me.
31 days of perfect health and then drop dead? Or 31 days of slow, debilitating, crushing agony and pain and then death? I just lost my best friend to perotineal cancer, from diagnosis to her passing was 97 days. She made plans to travel with her daughter, spend time with friends, write a will, etc. but she ended up spending a majority of that time in the hospital on heavy duty narcotics and offer her nut because of them. I don't think anyone would plan on spending their last 31 days like that but it's more realistic.
Tldr: do the things you would do with news like this now... Don't wait until it might be impossible.
Easy ... have a big fat funeral for myself, hand off everything I own to the people I had willed everything to. Tell them thanks. Say goodbye to everyone and leave myself about $1,000. Go off to my parents hunt camp and traditional lands and live out there by myself until the 31 days are over.
I've travelled the world, saw many things, did many things, had a great time but now I'm old and sore all the time and I can't run around as fast or as much any more. I just like sitting, relaxing and enjoying some peace and quiet.
If someone told me I had a month, I want to just spend those last 30 days as quietly as possible looking at trees, water and being around absolutely no one.
Same, except I'd skip the funeral, and on the last day I'd find a remote tree and tie myself there so I could be naturally excarnated:
The Moriori people of the Chatham Islands placed their dead in a sitting position ... strapped to young trees in the forest. In time, the tree grew into and through the bones, making them one.
I’d probably dedicate some days each week to friends or family, to have more active contact before it’s late, but be shamelessly selfish the other days and spend them trying to finish some of my hobby projects and finally finishing The Witcher 3 if possible.
That’s going to be rough to those currently on my daily agenda, like partner and kid, but I’ve given so much to them, and so little to others I care about, that the balance has to be leaning towards the latter.
Not sure if I actually could do that though. But that’s what I’d hope I’d be able to push for.
Given the state of the world these days, 31 days is long enough for at least 3 very particular tasks. Any left over time, I'd probably just be bored and procrasturbate.
I was going to say liquidate my investments but to be honest I'm not sure I could even spend all the money in my bank account in 31 days. I don't even know what to buy. Beef Jerky and RedBull? I'd probably get my hands on some psychedelics though, maybe even hard drugs. One thing I would do is much more urban offroading with my truck since I no longer need to be worried about my license - or the truck. I'd probably go have a thai massage with a happy ending and try gay sex too because why not.
All in all I don't think I'd be living that much differently. I already know I'm going to die. I just don't know when.
Family. That's all. Use the remainder of my money to help fulfill some bucket list items for my parents, wife, siblings, and my kids. Try to write as much as I can and record as much as I can for my kids. Impart any wisdom I possibly can.
Travel - not so extravagant to put my family in debt after I pass but I've got a decent retirement fund and I have no qualms about spending a portion of it if I'm not going to need it to support me in the long term.
I'd probably fly into someplace random in Europe and just soak up different towns by train heading wherever the fuck my ADHD brain tells me to go next. It'd be wonderful.
Also, sex it up like I'm not going to be alive in 32 days.
Edit: Oh, I'd probably make sure to get a second opinion first.
I'm not certain where you live but even here in Canada (which does have issues with wait times for procedures which are wrongly viewed as elective/unimpactful) critical medicine like Oncology triaging will happen astoundingly fast.
spend time doing what I like to do and enjoying the company of the people I love. play games, play magic, listen to music getting high... nights in the pool, just watching the moon reflection on the water...
Probably spend a lot of time with my friends. Try weed. Drink a bunch. Also just like right before I'm about to die, strip naked and start furiously masturbating, making sure to drop dead in the city center on some square where I'll be very visible :)
I’d find out what heroin feels like in the final few days. It’d be just my luck that I’d have trouble finding anything of good quality, so I’d either not get the full desired experience or I’d OD on fentanyl.
Nutmeg is psychoactive beyond normal serving sizes. It is a deliriant. Note that it is also toxic at these levels. Question; Does delirium sound enjoyable? If you're in your right mind, the answer should be "absolutely not".
With that being said, I'd like to see hell before I'm actually there. May as well. I'd do it just before death, so the wretchedness ends early.
That's after trying every drug that'd otherwise be too risky for the long run.