My mind is racing a bit, so bear with me, but I just found out a friend of mine has passed away. And it just doesn’t make sense.

“Failure is already on the table by simply not doing anything. So by going forward you’ve already won something for your soul.”

I wrote David Scheve this summer. We usually would send each other crazy videos like this or this a couple of times a year, or he would brag about getting to work with stars like Lucille Bliss or Eileen Brennan. So as I started work on the blog, I asked if he would contribute to a post on inspiration. His response was honest, open and vulnerable, and so typically David. This guy had a wicked sense of humor, (the videos in his most recent project are a pitch-perfect parody of “Schoolhouse Rock” yet are NSFW to put it mildly) but he didn’t use his humor cynically as a wall to hide behind like some. He was warm and approachable and also just a little bit naughty.

When I found out that he passed suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep, I had what is I guess a typical grief reaction – bewilderment, anger, sadness. I reminisced about how we’d met, the production of “Gigi” we did together, the time we went to Disneyland, the gatherings in Central Park with other transplanted friends in NYC. Or the time during “Gigi” he convinced me to try some new face mask he’d brought to the dressing room between shows, which he assumed would be deserted. Of course we had no sooner put the bright blue creme on our faces when a group of theater patrons burst into the room on a tour. We fled to the bathroom but not before several chuckles were had at our expense.

His death will never make sense. But besides all the laughter, I can remember him as a good friend and inspiration.

Our final conversation was about living a better and more intentional life, and not being afraid to do the things that scared us. “It hasn’t been easy,” he told me, “but when you find what it is you were put here to do (and if you’re a passionate person) there’s no choice but to do it! [Fear] held me captive for so many years and for so many reasons, and now I use it as an indicator. The more initial fear I feel about something, the more I know that I am heading in the right direction for me.” The last thing he said to me was a straightforward bit of encouragement:

“Failure is already on the table by simply not doing anything. So by going forward you’ve already won something for your soul.”

Don’t wait until you’ve run out of time. Let’s take a moment right now, today, and make sure we are living the extraordinary life we are capable of. Life is a gift, and it is up to us to use it. Let’s all win something for our souls today.