“Here’s a test to determine whether your mission on earth is complete. If you’re alive, it isn’t. You’re never done until the moment you take your last breath.” — Richard Bach
The above quote is rather sobering given the implication. However, there will be those who simply feel they have plenty of time to begin, transverse or complete whatever is necessary before they leave this earth, without a second thought. And “therein lies the rub,” as William Shakespeare so aptly stated. There are no guarantees on the length of anyone’s journey . . . just that we’re all on one for whatever length of time exists. We are all working at different speeds for different reasons. Unless and until you realize this is something you cannot outsource, and let someone else handle . . . you will be floundering, going in a myriad of circles and confounded by your own mismanagement. Ella Wheeler Wilcox puts it another way, “Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it.”
Of course, you may totally disagree with the above quote and feel that whatever your mission is on this earth, is totally up to and for you to decide. Well that’s a step in the right direction, the trigger in that assumption is, for you to decide . . . and unfortunately you may find yourself stuck at the present moment, or for many years, so whatever the case may be your time is slipping away moment by moment. Keep in mind as Edmund Burke reminds us, “You can never plan the future by the past.”
Once again the ball is in your court, perhaps for the very first time in your life. Bravo! You’ve recognized something that you may have overlooked for decades and stating this another way as Stephen Covey suggests, “Accountability breeds responsibility.” Have you noticed this is missing today? Maybe you haven’t . . . however, there is no time like the present to recognize you may have a problem or even be the problem in your own life. Discovery is always a good place to start, and peeling back the layers of your life is quite a process . . . not impossible understand, but daunting. Of course there is risk involved, getting to know who you are consciously and participating in a responsible evolution of you, is frightening for many. So be it. The years will go by no matter what your choice, and time eventually runs out for all of us. It takes courage to face who you are, yes . . . moles, warts and all . . . however in the words of Stephen Covey we finally learn, “The way we see the problem is the problem.” JLR