Lost and Finding Joy

Time is precious. Are we really going to keep putting off the things we’d really love to do? Why do we do that to ourselves? We say things like: I’ll do it when I graduate; I’ll do it when I get married; I’ll do it when my kids get older; I’ll do it when I sell my business; I’ll do it when I retire; I’ll do it when… What if when never comes? What if we only have a few more years left to live? After all, we really don’t know. What if we only have a few months to live? A few weeks? Days? Hours? I’m not trying to sound morbid, but it might do us some good to think about that for a moment. We can’t breathe ourselves. We can’t make our own hearts beat. Our bodies are functioning without us directing it or telling it to do so. Every single day is a gift. The truth is we just don’t know how much time we have left. So, wouldn’t it be smart to do the things we’d love to do…now…while we are still living?

What stops us from doing the things we’d really prefer to do? Invisible boundaries stop us. We think we can’t, when we actually can. When we figure that out, our lives get more expansive, more liberating, more fun. Invisible boundaries can be called paradigms, or belief systems, that we’ve been programmed to believe. We think we have to do this or that, when in truth, we can do whatever we decide to do.

The world doesn’t stop when we die…and the world won’t stop when you do what you love. It will keep going. The people in your life will keep going as well. Give yourself permission to do what’s been on your heart. If you don’t know what you want to do, take the limits off and ask yourself…“If anything were possible…if I had a magic wand…what would I love to do?” Then go do that. Don’t wait until one day when…don’t wait until it’s too late. Do it now…while you can.

Test your dream to see if it’s worth taking a leap of faith…here are some key questions to ask yourself: 1) Does it give me more life; 2) Does it require me to grow; 3) Does it require help from a Higher Power; 4) Does it align with my core values; 5) Does it have some good in it for others?

If you answered, “yes,” to all of those questions, then your dream is worthy of you. Go after it! Take a step towards it, and eventually you will live into that dream.

If one advances confidently in the direction of their dream, endeavoring to live the life they’ve imagined; one passes an invisible boundary, and meets with a success unexpected in common hours. ~ Henry David Thoreau

I’m grateful for my life. I’ve lived my life thus far the way I’ve chosen to live it. I hope I have many more years to keep living…but if I don’t have much time left…I can honestly say that I lived my life to the best of my ability. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for the good times and the bad. I learned and gained knowledge and growth from both. I am grateful for all the many job and business opportunities I’ve had. I am grateful for getting a second chance to be with the love of my life. I am grateful for living in Tennessee, then Arkansas, then back to Tennessee, then in both Arkansas and Tennessee. I am grateful for all the dreams I imagined and brought to life. Thank you, God, for my life. Until my last breath, I pray I continue to live it well.

May you live your life to the fullest. You can do whatever you choose to do. I encourage you to cut loose from your invisible binds. Set yourself free and do what you love now…not when.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you are right.” (Henry Ford)