Life is too short...

We often use the saying “life is too short” or some variation of it to help us deal with an issue, put things into perspective or motivate us. While the saying has a lot of sentiment, we need to stop using it as a source of motivation and as an excuse. It puts us at odds with trying to do everything before we die. Here are some examples of that prove my point.

We often use “life is too short” as a mantra to no longer put up with negative people in our life. First let me say that I do not think anyone should waste any time with someone who brings them down. It is unhealthy and you deserve better. It does not matter if it is a relationship, friendship or someone you work with. Spend as little time with these people as you can and if you can get them out of your life, do it. If you lived to be 100 or 200 or even 500, would it be okay to spend your time with people that bring you down? The fact of the matter is, you could live forever and you should never spend a moment with someone who makes you feel bad about yourself.

“Life is too short to not take chances”, puts us in a place that we constantly need to worry that if we do not take a chance today or right now, there will never be another one. That we are somehow limited on the chances and opportunities that we have and we need to be sure we never miss one. While I am all for taking chances and making the most out of every opportunity, if we need to compare it to how long we could live, we miss the point. We should not take chances because of the limited time we have on this earth, we should take chances because it is something that we want to do and something we feel called to do. If you take a chance just because of limited time, you are more likely than not, wasting time. In fact the whole idea of chance is absurd to me, yes there will be chances of opportunity for you in your life that come along unexpectedly but we need to be in the mindset that every damn day is an opportunity to live the life you want.

My whole issue with the “life is too short” mentality is that it stops a lot more opportunities than we think. For some, life is too short to follow their dreams. Their dreams will take a great amount of time, and we never know when we could die. Following our dreams mean giving up things that we love and that hurts. Some dreams are long-term and pretty damn ambitious and so for those dreams, we could say life is too short. Life is too short to go and chase all of it, to spend countless hours working on a project and to not even know if it will all work out. Life is too short to not be “happy” and have the easy life. Some dreams mean letting go of other dreams, to stop being comfortable and to be scared at times. The real issue with telling people that life is too short is it makes them judge what they want to do based off of them dying and not based on what they really want to do and where they will have an impact. It is better to be in pursuit of your dreams and die then to not chase your dreams at all because there was not enough time.

We need to focus on the fact that there is so much opportunity. Opportunity is all around us. Fill your life with taking chances and following your dreams because you could live for 50 more years not because you could die tomorrow.

Forgive but don’t forget

Forgive but don’t forget

There is a difference between forgiveness and forgetting. One is a powerful tool that will set you free and open your future. The other is a truck that will blindside you if you do not pay attention.

In my journey I have gotten the two mixed up far too often. I forget what happened but refuse to forgive those involved, including and probably most often myself. Looking back I have noticed that it does nothing for me, I forget the cause of the problem and what should have been done and just focus on the people, looking for what they did wrong. When in reality I should forgive those involved, because 99% of the time they did it with their best intentions, and I am willing to be trick by the 1% to see the awesome power the 99% has.

When I forget what happened, I forget to learn the lesson that came along with it, most likely the reason why it happened. The lesson sits on the side of the road as I run pass it chasing those who “did wrong”. As Pat Hopkins of Imaginasium writes in a blog post “It’s about the Experience, Stupid”, I have far to often forgotten to realize the awesome potential the experience will teach me if I take a minute to learn from it and remember it.

A failure is not the end; it is a fork in the road. It is a point in time where you can realign, regroup and look at what is a head.

I will start to look for the opportunity, experience and lesson from each step in my life. I will start to forgive and love people for who they are and the talent they bring, I will be set free. I will not forget the lesson I have been taught making them propel me forward, not hold me back.

Here is to forgiveness, an awesome virtue that far too often I have forgotten. Let’s remember is all about the experience.

Lifes Little Lessons

Let me tell you about my day. To begin I woke up late, yes my own fault. I get out to my spot and it is blocked by a company van that is repairing bricks at our complex. My first thought is “Hey why in the world would you park in front of a garage at 8:00, seems really silly to me.” I find the guy and have him move the van so I can get out. I pull out and get on the main street, stuck behind a school bus SERENITY NOW! I finally get to work. Everything is fine until I pack up for lunch. I spill my water bottle all over my desk. The cap was not on (yes I am a winner). So now I am angry I am mad, at what, life.

Now why do I tell you this? For one looking back at it I find it so funny that I got upset and that all this happened and guess what I am still alive. Stuff so small gets in our ways everyday, because we let it.

The final point I want to make is what happened at lunch. I went to get Chinese, as usual after eating I got a fortune cookie. I open it and my message reads “windows of opportunity rarely open themselves”. IT HIT ME. There are so many times in life and in business where we are looking for the opportunity to come smashing through a window and hit us in the head. However we forget to realize that every moment is an opportunity to learn. Lets just review my few key opportunities I saw as a reason to be mad.

1) Waking up late: I need to plan better, I should not rely on a machine to tell me when something needs to be done. Think of how disrespectful that truly is to the people you love.
2) The Van: How many times have you thought about what you want? What good does it do you? Not a whole lot in the long run. One of my keys to happiness is to help others get where they want to go. I will not be a van blocking the way
3) School Bus: I should really have another route. How many times have you gone into life and business with a set plan with no other alternatives? It is a sure to be a failure (an epic one at that?)
4) The water bottle: How many times have you taken on a project without really knowing what is going on to the point where it could destroy everything? Why do we do this? I agree there needs to be some adventure however if you are not secure (like the cap) do not take the opportunity

Thanks have a great night!