When will you be ready to live the life you really believe you were destined to live? When will you finally decide to get up from your slumber and get on with the business of losing weight? When will you go back to school and get the college degree you always wanted to earn, or start that restaurant with your proven family recipes, or even open that merchandise store?
It is a travesty when I hear all the stories of people who found and used every excuse to avoid reaching for that one thing they always wanted to do. I can only imagine how it must feel to arrive at the end of your life, and realize how much you cheated yourself out of your best life. I say, I can only imagine because I decided over thirty years ago, I will only die once, but I get an opportunity daily to reach for my goals, to go to places others only dream of, and to enjoy the life I have. Why would I want to be stagnated by others whose only desire is for me to be as underachieving as they are?
I make no apologies for the amount of money I make, the best hotels I’ve stayed in, the cars I drive, the many books I’ve written, the famous and wealthy people I’ve met and spent time with, the amount of money I’ve given to religious charities, …the list goes on. And, I will continue doing these things and reaching for more until I have exhaled my last breath.
Why not go for it? Why not do all you believe God has placed in you to do? What are you afraid of? I believe one of the reasons why most people are so sad and unfulfilled is they have not figured out their happiness is attached to their purpose. I asked one middle age woman once, when do you feel you are at your happiest? To my surprise, she said when she is crocheting. When I looked at all the creative designs she has crocheted, I was amazed. In fact, I actually purchased several from her. I asked her if she ever thought of selling them since it could help her with the extra income she needed. She said she had only thought of giving them away. I replied, that sounds noble, but did you know the thing you love to do most is designed to feed you? Therefore, your labor of love is supposed to support you financially. She later took my advice, started selling her crocheted quilts, and averaged an additional $1400 a month in income.
Why stay miserable, settling for a life you know brings you no joy at all? Don’t give up on your dream because that would mean you’ve given up on life. You have so many awesome intrinsic qualities. Don’t sentence your life to a life of mediocrity because a few years have passed without you accomplishing anything worthwhile. Get up, and refuse to sit on a couch of ease. You shouldn’t want to stay in your house with your window shades down, blocking the sunlight; hoping someone will come by and spend some time with you in your misery. In case you haven’t noticed, you may be deliberately trying to make other people feel responsible for you making a decision to do nothing with your life.
I understand it is your life to do with as you please; however, it is not your right to make other people feel guilty because they don’t want to live their lives alongside yours. It is difficult to follow a parked car. If you are not going anywhere in life, can you please move out of the way so others can get by you without the threat of tripping over you? If you want to waste your time, why would I want to give you the opportunity of wasting mine? Stop suffocating your dream under the pillows of discouragement and disappointments. Both of these are a part of life. Haven’t you heard all success begins with failure? If you never give yourself the chance to fail, you will never reap the rewards of knowing how to get up again.
Let me tell you a story about John, a young man who really loved to run. John lived in a small town with a population of approximately 15,000 people, along with a couple of hogs and cows. John ran about three to four times a week. He didn’t do it simply to stay in shape; he did it because he loved it. At the ripe old age of 87 years, John decided to run the marathon hosted in a large city located about 220 miles away from where he lived. John first started entertaining the thought of running the marathon when he was about 55 years old, however, he was too busy making a living to take care of his family. He kept putting it off, and putting it off, although he would runs for miles for enjoyment. At seventy-five years old he decided he was going to enter the marathon, but his wife fell ill. Several years later, John’s wife died. John continued to walk and run for miles during the course of a week just to stay in shape.
One day, John’s only son came to visit him and told him about the marathon kicking off in two months. John thought for a moment and sighed, “I’m 87 years old; what can I do at my age?” “Dad, you are in better shape than most 40 year olds. Why don’t you go for it?! I took the liberty and signed you up.”, John’s son said. John said, “I always wanted to run a marathon, but I’m too old now and it will take too long for me to finish.” His son said, “Dad when I was only 10 years old, you taught me one of the greatest lessons of all, when you spoke to me about finishing last in a race.” You said, “it matters not how long it takes to finish what you’ve started, what matters is that you finish.”
So at 87 years old, John fulfilled his lifelong aspiration and ran and finished his first and only marathon. John died later that year with running shoes on his feet, as he sat on his porch in his chair, ready to run that evening. After running the marathon, John would hardly speak of anything else. John died doing what made him happy.
It matters not how long it takes to finish what you’ve started, what matters is that you finish.
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