What are you waiting for?

Hello Friends,

Something powerful, deep, and inspirational happened to me this evening that I wanted to share with you. While getting lost in the carefully crafted collage of friends and family adorning my parent's fridge, I slowly began realizing that not every person in every picture is still alive. From there my mind turned to the fact that some of those who were once young and vital are young and vital no more, and as such are not able to do all that they once could. This is a classic human realization which can have far-reaching implications, as it is somewhat of a shock to the ego, that someday, unavoidably, we will all get old, get sick, and die. Some of us, it pains me to say, will not even make it that long, and our lives will end by accident or some other similar circumstance. When you really tune into that, when you confront it head on and dip into the truth of it, it's powerful!

Now, as with any powerful realization, I chose consciously how to respond instead of being led blindly by internal white noise or emotion or any of the other factors that can sometimes lead us astray. I, instead, decided to use this realization to propel me forward, and I hope you are going to do the same :)

How exactly did I do this? Easy :)

If it is true that the nature of life is change and that the only guarantee we have is that we are all going to die someday, then WHAT THE HELL ARE WE WAITING FOR?!?! With the magnitude of that reality, why let fear hold you back from bringing to life all of your heart's desires?!?! Why end up regretting something when in reality even if you were rejected it wouldn't have been that bad anyway?!?

This is a useful question I implore every so often in order to help get back on track or straighten out my priorities: If I were to die tomorrow, what would I have wanted to do more of at this point in my life? When you answer that question, your answers are exactly what you need to be doing more of, because time is running out. I don't mean to be negative or cynical in any way, just realistic about this ride we are on, this sacred journey, this crazy highway, whatever you wish to call it. Someday it will end, and you will be out of chances to do the things you loved so much.

So...if you feel stagnant at all, if you feel bored or like your life is on "repeat", remember my words and really feel the truth they carry so that you may wake up from your stupor, take some risks, and start living your life in a bigger, happier, and fresher way!!! Anything is possible, and there is no tragedy in trying something and failing. Only in never bothering to try at all :)

As of late I have started writing a Gratitude Journal, and each night I record 3 things I am grateful for and what I did to facilitate each one, and you know what? 90% of all that I am grateful for is the direct result of me taking risks!!! Either I stuck my neck out for something or someone or I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to try something new, and, in those cases, anyway, I was successful and ended up landing something that now I deeply appreciate at. How cool is that?!? In addition, the more risks we take, within reason, of course (I'm not talking about trying to improve our jumping-from-highrise-to-highrise abilities), the less we feel the sting of rejection! It's really quite amazing, for it is easy to think of taking risks in terms of winning or losing, but even when we "lose" we win because we, if we choose to be wise, anyway, learn something valuable in the process!! IT'S AWESOME!!!

So that's all for now. I hope this has inspired you in some way, and if not, well, you must be a few steps ahead of me, and that's "Tony the Tiger" terrific! :)

Good luck and have fun,

Andrew