Life without Parole

Without a doubt there are times in our lives that we must plan for the future or there will be no future worth speaking of. Things like retirement, saving for major purchases, planing a vacation, visiting a friend or loved one, changing careers, college, etc. Other items in life demand a little more urgency or at least should. If our lives were categorized into now or later where would you place the majority? I call this reflection life without parole because we place ourselves into a living prison, often times solitary confinement and never allow ourselves to be released.

There is no future, no dreams, no hope, no ambition if you place yourself in this self imposed prison for life. This can be so bad in our lives that we even mask it as what I will call the martyr syndrome. "Well I do not deserve to be happy". If that is your feelings keep them to yourself. Do not try to recruit people to feel sorry for you or buy into your life prisoner mentality. We were built for accomplishment pure and simple.

I have even heard preachers preach us into these life sentences. We are endowed with the seeds of greatness and those seeds have to be sowed daily, hourly, or maybe even by the minute. When our lives are focused on some illusory date in the future when supposedly we will have more courage to act out some weird misdirected nightmare, we are locked up and locked out of what life can and should be. You know exactly what I am talking about. Those fantasy dates when the kids are grown, the cows came home, the car was paid off, the cotton crop turned green, and Aunt Sallie passed on. When all the stars line up, the clouds dissipate, and we hit the lottery things will magically be ok. Keep playing that Russian Roulette travesty with the only life you have. We can't look back someday with the regret of what we failed to do we have to act out now what we can do and trust me we can do a lot.

You ever wonder why some people become the rags to riches story? It wasn't because they were lucky, it was because they were willing to do what no one else was willing to do so they would have what others would not. This is our life friends, we write the story, sure we get brainwashed as we walk this journey and yes we face countless upsets, defeats, setbacks, heartbreaks, and roadblocks but at the end of the day it is the only life you or I have. Let's make sure we pen the pages, not someone else. Write your story in pencil you can make adjustments as you go. We humans are built to adapt, that is what makes us so awesome. God created us with victory in mind.

I spoke to a wonderful lady last week literally dying of cancer. She has stopped treatment and now facing the end stages of life as we know it. I ask her how she was planning for the future. I loved her reply, she said she no longer plans for the future because she is too busy maximizing the present. She told me that she is trying to live her life in hours not days. She brought a smile to my face when she told me how incredibly wonderful life is when you finally learn how to live it. She may be at the end of this earthly existence however she has set herself free to explore life as she has never known it. My next question to her was why did it take something like this to unlock the doors of prison. She told me without reservation that her life was too busy planning for a future dream that in her heart she knew did not exist. She wasted precious time waiting when in hindsight she should have been acting. Her life by no means has been a failure but in her own words she did not come close to her potential.

Can you imagine what our lives would be like if over the last 500 years everyone acted as we do? Thank goodness someone had the courage to do the unthinkable, try the impossible, go the extra mile, climb the highest mountain. Those people then and now give us the tools we use to make our lives easier. They were not smarter, not endowed with more seeds of greatness, the simply found the courage to be the greatest version of themselves possible. They believed, they trusted, they dared, THEY LIVED. What about you and I? What can we do right now to make today better? It can be as simple as reading that book you have been talking about for months, or going for that walk in the park, or calling an old friend that you betrayed years ago to mend a fence. Do something today to get those creative juices flowing.

We are not martyrs to our own lives. We have made mistakes, miscues, wrong turns, bad decisions, but we are still alive which means we still have the ability to make today great. DO NOT keep the doors of your life locked any longer. We cannot change yesterday but we can sure as heck unlock the potential for today. STOP hanging around or listening to the naysayers that are more than happy to tell you what you can't do, or that your government is out to get you. Find people that think outside the box with the energy and enthusiasm that can make life worth living again. Matter of fact be that person that others migrate too. Be in the example become a mover and shaker.

Remember Christ rewarded those who tried and punished the one's that did nothing. The keys to your life door are in your hands not someone else's. I am going to unlock my potential and I pray you do the same. Just imagine the difference we can make in this world when we all live our God given potential. I can't speak for you but I am getting my key out right now!

peace to you
Dale