THE JOURNEY

Time, how we all wish we could have more time. Ultimately, this is the single most important commodity in life. Among all of the things we value most, time is the only thing that can never be regained or replaced once it has been spent. Life is a hard teacher. It shows us that we can have anything we want, but not everything we want.

Physically each of us can only put his or her body in one place at one time. There are only 24 hours per day, 365 days per year and each of us only have an allotted number of years to do what we want in life. These are real limits that we cannot change. These time limits are also compounded by the fact that we are forced to spend most of our time taking care of ourselves; like eating, sleeping, washing, and of course making money to take care of ourselves. When you think about it, you could ask how we have any time to spend on anything else. Since our time here is limited it is important that we use this time well. Life provides no dress rehearsals; each one of us gets only one chance at this life.

The best thing we can do for ourselves is to carefully choose how we spend our time, right from the beginning, and if we make mistakes, we should learn from them and rectify them if possible. Once we are sure of our choices, then we should commit to them, act on them, and never look back. We can have anything but not everything. We should not look back. This is the past and you cannot change the past. Looking back provides nothing of value, and only makes you second guess the future. I believe that we are doing the best we can with the knowledge we have.

It is important to remember that life is a succession of choices. Many of us avoid risks that are involved in moving toward what we want. We do this to be safe and stay comfortable. The fear of finding ourselves outside of our comfort zones only leads to more fear. We will find ourselves trapped in lives that we do now want and doing things we really do not want to do. If we should chose to fight the fear we have inside, we will end up doing something new, something different, and maybe something hard, but we will conquer that fear and move ahead. If we go outside of our comfort zones enough, we can gradually overcome the fear of attempting the unknown. Helen Keller wrote that "life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing." Think about that.

You fight your fears; you feel them and act on them. When this happens it is called courage. Some of the choices you have made and will make may be difficult. Remember to have faith in yourself that you will make the best decision you can at the time. Do not regret what you cannot change. Remember life is a journey, enjoy the scenery along the way. Love yourself, respect yourself, and believe in yourself for this will make the journey fun, exciting and worth the trip.

Have courage, be strong, and always look ahead. The future is waiting.

-author unknown-